Penny's Adventure in Unova
by MaddieBlueMoon
Summary: Penny is just starting off on her Pokemon journey and with a Blitzle by her side how could she loose? Travel with her and Anita as they battle gym leaders, catch Pokemon, make new friends and explore the world of Pokemon. Completely original plot, characters and gym leaders. Please review!
1. I Choose You, Blitzle

From the moment I set foot I knew it was going to be the last time I entered the classroom for a while. The thirty or so desks that sat in rows facing a blank whiteboard were slowly being filled by my classmates who all looked like they had drunk three cans of Red Bull for breakfast. There was nothing I could say to describe the adrenaline rush I was feeling right then. I was so nervous and excited all at the same time every part of my was trembling. Today my class was starting their journey on Route 1.

A year ago my mom had signed me up for weekly Pokemon lessons at the Professor's lab. Each week we would learn how to better care and understand our pokemon and it was all leading up to today. Last week we'd been told to pick a group of friends to travel with. Each group had to consist of at least two people or else Professor Swan wouldn't let us start our journeys. I decided to go with Anita because she had been a good friend to me ever since I joined the class. I was one of the youngest students and so was she so we worked well together.

Anita was a very outgoing person, and liked a lot of attention. It was just as much an advantage as a disadvantage. One of the only reasons I agreed to go with her was because she seemed the most dedicated. Some of the other kids were just there because their parents wanted them to follow in their footsteps. I was here because I knew someday I'd be the greatest pokemon master ever to live. Anita seemed to share the same dream so I partnered with her instead of someone who wanted to visit all the tourist attractions.

As I approached the front of the classroom with my pack full of supplies for the journey, I took out my permission slip I had to have signed and handed it to the professor. Anita was waiting for me in the front row and she looked so exited her eyes were bulging. Her brown hair was pulled back into braid and she was wearing jeans and a t shirt. I saw by her side was a very large bag of supplies and I felt kind of bad I'd asked her to bring the tent. She waved me over and I sat down.

"Alright class settle down," Professor Swan said. She was a tall and very young professor with straight black hair that she always kept in a silky ponytail. "I know you're all very excited to begin your journey," she said and the class erupted in whispers. "Attention, attention class," Professor Swan said clapping her hands together. The whispered conversations died down. "Thank you. Now I'm going to pass out some pokeballs. Please know that this is completely random and no pokemon is better than the others. These are are freshly caught and are just dying to meet you all."

More hushed whispers as Professor Swan placed a pokeball on each of our desks. She gave me mine first and I stared at it. It was so small and shiny. I wanted to open it more than anything right then and see what was inside. Any moment now I would know who I would be starting my pokemon adventure with, any moment. It was agonizing, watching as Professor Swan reached into her bag for the last pokeball to give to Wallace who was sitting at the very back. Then she had to walk all the way up the aisle to the front before giving the okay to open the balls. There were several flashes of light as everyone pressed the center button in their pokeball and let out the twenty or so pokemon. Something inside me held me back though and left me staring at the pokeball in silence. Why couldn't I open it?

I looked to my left and saw Anita staring at a tiny bird pokemon, a Starly. I knew it

because one of our first class assignments was to write a poem about a particular pokemon and I'd chosen Starly. Anita looked delighted.

"Why haven't you opened yours Penny?" Anita asked when she looked over, expecting me to had a pokemon sitting on my desk.

"I don't know," I said truthfully. Something in my brain was telling me to grab the ball and press the center button but my limbs weren't responding. Just then Anita grabbed the ball and I sprung into action before she could press the button. "Anita no!" I said snatching the ball away. I couldn't believe she had been about to release my pokemon. Anita giggled and I got mad.

"What?" Anita said playfully. "I want to know what you got."

So this is what traveling with her would be like. Maybe I had made a mistake. Going with Faith or Melissa suddenly didn't sound so bad.

"Fine," I said, clutching the ball. I could hear my heart beating in my head which always meant I was really nervous about something. Then, I sent out the pokeball. It bounced twice on the table before letting out a glowing red light. As soon as the light cleared I saw it, the Blitzle standing on the table. It was bigger than I expected and if I put it on the floor it would come up to about my knees. I starred in shock and a wave of happiness and warmth washed through me. This was my pokemon, no one elses and it was perfect. I wanted to hug Blitzle but I knew people would think that was odd. Instead I stocked it's soft black and white fur and mane that stuck up at the front like a lightning bolt. Anita's Starly walked up to Blitzle and stared up at it.

"Look," Anita said, scooping up Starly and placing it on top of Blitzle's head. "They're both black and white so they must be friends," she said and laughed as Starly walked down Blitzle's back. "I'm going to call you Flaps," she said to the bird Pokemon. "What are you going to call yours Penny?" she asked, stroking Blitzle's mane as I'd done. Something about that bothered me like I didn't want anyone else touching my pokemon.

"Um, I don't know," I said, picking Blitzle up and placing it on the floor. I stared at it for a while wondering what nickname I should give it. The professor said it was always a good idea to give them a name because you don't want it to get mixed up with the other pokemon just like it.

"Looks like you've got a female," Professor Swan said as she passed Blitzle. I wasn't sure how she knew but I was glad I now knew what kind of name to give it.

"Chloe," I said patting Blitzle's head. "That's her name."

"Cool," Anita said, coming around the other side of me to pet her. "Flaps and Chloe, I like it."

After a while Professor Swan called for attention again. "Everyone, retrieve your Pokemon," she said and there was lots of red light as the pokemon slowly disappeared. I shot out my red light and watched Chloe disappear inside the ball. Then, it shrunk down to the size of a thimble in my hand and I realized it was the most precious thing I had ever held. "Now does everyone remember how to log onto the database?" Professor Swan asked and there was a unanimous murmur of agreement. "Good," she said. "Once you reach Acumula City you go first to the Pokemon Center and heal your Pokemon. Then you call me and anyone you need to call using the computers. I want to hear from everyone of you. Once you've done that log onto the class database and enter your Pokemon's scientific name, given name and a brief description of it. Make sure to do it for all the pokemon you've caught because as you know we're having a race to see who can catch the most Pokemon and who can raise the best Pokemon."

"I'm going to win both," Anita whispered.

"Good now I have everyone's permission slip," Professor Swan said waving the stack of papers in hand. "Wait until we're all outside to release your Pokemon and we'll start the sending off parade."

I fidgeted excitedly in my seat. Every year Peridot Town would host a big parade for the embarking Pokemon trainers were we would walk down the streets with our pokemon at our side and people would hold signs and cheer for us. I couldn't believe that this year I'd be in it.

The parade started at the gates of Professor Swan's laboratory with all the parents. As I slung my pack over my shoulder I spotter my mom and dad and waved at them. Then I produced Chloe's pokeball and in a flash of red light she was by my side. Leaning shyly on my legs. All around there were camera's going off people screaming, waving sign's with certain people's names on it. I found Anita and the crowd and walked with her as we paraded down the streets. Sadly I noticed none of her parents seemed to be in the crowd waving at her. I saw Anita trying not to look too disappointed.

A little ways down the parade I spotted a big purple blob. Oh no, I thought as I realized the blob was actually a bunch of people, Violet's cheer squad. Violet was the only other twelve year old in the class, everyone one else was older. She was the head cheerleader at Anita and I's school and just as mean you'd imagine. I considered her my biggest rival because she too shared my dream but I would never want to travel with someone like her. I also noticed she hadn't even let her Pokemon out of it's ball.

"Just keep walking," I said as Anita gave the cheerleaders a nasty glare. They had started to jeer catcalls at us.

"Just wait till I can teach Flaps how to blast them out of the sky," Anita muttered.

At last we reached the entrance to route one. We weren't the first one's there but at least we weren't the last. People liked to take their time in the parade, say goodbye to old friends and talk to their parents before they left. I'd already said goodbye to my mom and dad this morning. Yes they'd been a little tearful but I knew I was more than ready to start my adventure. Even my little sister had given me a few jealous looks.

"Over here," Anita said and she pulled out her phone. She opened up the camera app and we smiled as she snapped the picture of us in front of the sign that read Route 1. "This is it," she said and we took our first step on our Pokemon adventure.


	2. Into the Woods We Go

Chapter 2

A warm breeze tugged at our hair as we walked swiftly down Route 1, giggling as we sped up, trying to get farther than the other kids. As I suspected a lot of people we stopping to look at plants or pick flowers so we were able to swiftly advance to the front. I knew the beginning would be hard because we were all starting at the same time and people liked to travel in crowds. So far we had seen zero Pokemon.

From ahead we hear shouts and sprinted to catch up with some of the older kids. They were all surrounding a caterpie, an actual caterpie. One of the girls, Jessie had sent out her bidoof to attack it, then a pokeball. With a flash of red light the Caterpie disappeared inside the ball and didn't come out. The ball shook three times and then remained still. An eruption of cheers came from the high schoolers and Jessie was hoisted on to their shoulders.

"Jessie caught the first Pokemon!" They all shouted and I saw Anita's ears turning pink.

"With that amount of noise they'll scare all the other pokemon away," Anita muttered. "I doubt Jessie will ever use Caterpie. I'm going to train my pokemon, every single one."

Chloe trotted on ahead of me and I saw her gazing off into the distance. Her majestic fur caught the sunlight perfectly and her blue eyes were alert and awake. This must be as exciting for her as it is for me.

"Let's keep moving," Anita reminded me. "We don't want anyone else to get ahead."

Chloe whined and trotted further ahead. Then she burst into a gallop.

"Chloe come back!" I yelled, racing after her.

Chloe barreled past the high school group and further into the unpaved woods. This could be dangerous. Finally I got close enough and threw myself towards her, catching the Blitzle around the neck. Anita rushed to a halt beside me.

"What was that about?" she asked and I shook my head.

Chloe struggled but I held on tight. Why was she acting like this, did she not like me? I couldn't bare to think that my pokemon might not obey their master. Then Chloe rolled over on her back and kicked her feet up in the air. Was she playing with me? I laughed and rubbed her belly. Chloe stuck out a surprisingly pink tongue. Suddenly Anita sat up straight. Chloe rolled back over and stood up. We both looked around.

"Be very very quiet," Anita said and we listened closer.

Then I saw it, a pokemon. It was brown and black, a Lillipup I think.

"It's so cute," I started to say but Anita shushed me.

"Go Flaps," she said and the Starly stepped forward. Then Anita looked confused. "I don't remember what moves it can use," she said, sounding disappointed.

"Use your pokedex," I reminded and she seemed to remember. Anita pulled out the red pokedex we're received from Professor Swan a few weeks ago and searched for Starly. It seemed to sense there was a Starly nearby and started to give the statistics for Flaps.

"Alright," she said. " Flaps use tackle," and the battle began.

There was a lot of biting and tackling, Starly was so much smaller than the tiny dog Pokemon and I was worried it might get too hurt. By the end of the battle they both looked extremely tired and I kind of wanted Anita to just withdraw but she held her ground. She told Flaps to just keep using tackle over and over again, I didn't think he had the strength.

"Anita you're going to get Flaps seriously hurt," I told her but she didn't budge.

Finally the Lillipup seemed to give up and slumped down on the ground. Flaps looked just as bad.

"I did it," Anita said and she threw one of the five empty pokeballs we'd been given at the Lillipup. It closed around the dog just as we'd seen it do to the caterpie. It wobbled three times then lay still. Anita was bubbling with joy. "My first Pokemon," she said triumphantly. "I caught my first Pokemon."

I was happy for her and a little too relieved it was over. Flaps walked in a dizzy circle that Anita completely ignored. I asked her to please retrieve Flaps before he fainted.

"Fine," she said and pulled out Flap's pokeball. "But you should be happy for me. I got the best pokemon out her guaranteed. Jessie's Caterpie is nothing compared to what I just caught."

"Right, great," I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "But next time don't let Flaps battle so hard, he looks too worn out."

"Battle with Flaps again?" Anita shook her head. "No way, I've got a way better Pokemon now. I've got Lillipup."

I cringed. "You know you can't just train one Pokemon if you want to become a Pokemon master. You have to train six in order to make a full team. Now you have two so you should train both of them and get the other four later."

Anita looked dismayed. "I guess you're right," she said, but then held up Lillipup's ball. "Obviously he lost so I need to train him more than I need to train Flaps. Come out Lillipup!" and the defeated looking puppy burst from the ball.

I didn't want to make her anymore upset by telling her Lillipup was too tired to walk so I held my tongue. It probably would have been better if I had said something but right then I didn't want us to fight on our very first day as traveling companions. If felt kind of good to watch the high schoolers walk by and gawk at the new pokemon but Chloe slowed down to walk beside the injured Lillipup and I immediately felt bad again. Secretly, while Anita chased after a Butterfree I scooped up the Lillipup and stroked it's fur, trying to make it feel better. Then I remembered something, the potions in my bag. I took one out and sprayed it in the Lillipup's mouth. Immediately it perked up.

"See I told you it would get better just by walking," Anita said scooping up the Lillipup triumphantly. "Now for a name," she said and paused to think for a moment. "Um how about Skipper? That sounds like a dog name," she said placing the Lillipup on the ground. "Yeah, Skipper's your name."

I sighed and looked at the little dog who barked happily at Anita's feet. This was going to be a long road to Acumula City.

It was after Anita defeated her fifth pokemon that I started to get worried. Skipper had grown pretty powerful and I hadn't used Chloe once. I knew she was perfectly happy just walking at my side but part of me wanted to train her so we'd be ready for the first gym. Then there was that part of me that held back. I couldn't bare to see what had happened to Flaps happen to Chloe. My pokemon was too precious and I didn't want to hurt her. Then I hit me, I was going to turn out just like the other kids if I kept up a mind like this. If I wanted Chloe to be the most powerful pokemon she could be I was going to have to train her. The very next pokemon I saw, I was going to attack it.

As Anita trained Skipper even more I researched. My pokedex could access any information about any pokemon so I learned everything I could about Chloe, her attacks, her weaknesses, what pokemon she'd be most effective against and which I should avoid. Then I was ready to battle. Shakily, I called Chloe over when the next tiny little Rattata crossed our path.

"Chloe," I said and glanced down at my pokedex for reassurance. "Use quick attack."

And she did. Like lightning Chloe attacked the Rattata, sending it skidding across the road.

From behind me Anita raced over from another victory. She cheered me on as the Ratatta started to attack Chloe.

"Use charge," I said and Chloe turned her head to give me an annoyed look. Words scrawled across the screen of my pokedex: Blitzle does not know that move. "Oh, I said sounding dumb. "Sorry, then use quick attack again." And Chloe obeyed.

"You did it," Anita exclaimed after the Rattata looked thoroughly beat. "Now I'm gonna catch it." She said and took out her pokeball.

"What?" I said," Wait-" but it was too late. Anita's Pokeball closed around the Rattata and began to shake. After it settled, everything was quiet.

"Sorry," Anita said. "Did you want to catch it?"

It wasn't that I wanted to catch it. At least I think not. It was more that I wanted to let it go, my first victory a success and didn't want to hold onto it. Even though it would probably put me in the rankings of the catching contest if I'd caught it I didn't really want to win. I was the sort of person who wanted a few close friends not a hundred acquaintances. Rattata was just not my first choice as a traveling companion.

"Chip," Anita said, not waiting for me to answer. "I'm going to call this one Chip. Isn't that cute Penny? Don't you think that's just the best name for a rat?" Again I didn't answer. "By the way," Annita said holding up another pokeball. "Guess what I caught when you were battling Chip."

So that was that. Anita had four Pokemon, Flaps, Skipper, Chip and a Bellsprout no less named Ivy. No doubt she was in the lead but I was still content with just my one pokemon. Three new ones was just too much too fast for me. I'd wait a while before catching a second companion. For now I was going to focus on training Chloe to my best ability and hopefully making her gym worthy before reaching Accumula City. Sure my first battle was won but the Unova region still hadn't seen the best of me.


	3. Accumula Town

Chapter Three

As the sun started to go down Anita and I started to make camp. It wasn't long until another group caught up with us and asked they could camp with us. Anita was reluctant at first but we agreed. We set up our tent for the first time and the group of four, two girls and two boys all in eighth grade set up two of their own tents. Together we gathered logs to make a fire.

Anita and I were soon glad to have the others as company because they had brought along marshmallows. None of us had a fire pokemon because they were extremely rare in this part of Unova but we manage to light the fire on our own and roast the delicious marshmallows on sticks.

"Wow you have four Pokemon?" The girl named Melody said after Anita, to my great annoyance let all of her pokemon out. "How many do you have Penny?"

I looked at Chloe who had sat next to the fire and smiled. "Just one," I said and rubbed her soft belly.

"Only one," the boy, Mansfield scoffed. "I have three."

"Well I have four," Anita retorted and quickly pulled Ivy away from the fire when she got too close. "So I win."

"We've only got two," Lillie, the other girl said gesturing to Melody and the other boy. "You don't have to be rude about it Mansfield."

The boy didn't reply.

"I'm going to let my Pokemon have a bit of fresh air," Lillie said after we ate a few hot, sticky marshmallows. "How about you guys?"

"Even though I have less Pokemon," Mansfield said, "Mine are better than yours." And he let them all out of their pokeballs.

There were fourteen pokemon in all which seemed like a lot at the time. It wasn't until we realized the marshmallows had all mysteriously been eaten that we put them back inside the balls. I kept Chloe out though. it felt kind of bad putting her inside a ball for the night instead of sleeping with me. Anita said as long as she could leave Flaps out that she was okay with her sleeping in our tent since she was still pretty small. I fell asleep to the rise and fall of my Pokemon's chest.

When we awoke the next morning we had no idea what time it was. We rushed outside our tent to see Lillie, Mansfield, Melody and the other boy Jacob had left already.

"No!" Anita moaned. "They're going to catch more pokemon than me and I'm going to lose the contest. Why did we have to wake up so late. They probably poisoned those marshmallows with a sleeping potion and now we're doomed."

"Anita," I said. "Calm down. It's only eight o'clock and we're not far behind. Stop worrying so much."

Anita still looked angry after we packed up the tent and headed off deeper into the forest. She let her anger out on a few Pidgeys and the scattered off into the woods. Behind her trailed all four of her Pokemon, they all looked a little tired especially Flaps who hadn't yet recovered from battling Skipper yesterday. I looked down at Chloe who trudged bravely ahead but looked like she had been woken up too early. I felt her nudge my pocket where I kept her Pokeball.

"You want to go back inside?" I asked, taking out the pokeball and feeling it grow large in my hand.

Chloe sat down and waited for me to press the button. I did and in a beam of red light Chloe vanished inside the pokeball. Being very careful to place the ball directly back into my pocket I caught up to Anita and her Pokemon.

"You put Chloe away?" Anita asked, sounding surprised. "You know Pokemon can get stronger just by walking. It's always a good idea to keep them training."

I shrugged. At least I knew when my Pokemon deserved a rest.

We walked another mile by ourselves before I let Chloe out of her Pokeball again. We trained for a while, stopping to battle some wild pokemon. Chloe was doing well and I was proud of her. The move I had been trying to use earlier called charge could be used now. The first time Chloe had used it had made the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It was incredible seeing such a tiny animal harvest so much electricity and let it crackle around her. I wasn't sure how much use it would be in battle seeing that it did no damage but it was sure impressive to watch. Chloe started doing it all the time at the beginning of a battle without me telling her just for effect. It was very impressive watching the white sparks fly through her body and not harm her the slightest bit. I couldn't wait until she could do more.

By midday Accumula Town was in sight. Anita shouted 'Eureka' and we raced downhill towards it, pushing and giggling before reaching the open gates. The roads were paved and made of cobblestone and every house and storefront seemed friendly and full of life. We made for the Pokemon Center. A huge red and white dome like structure with large glass windows. The clear doors slid open as we entered.

I felt so small in the giant room. Everything was clean and white and there were so many things to look at. Rows of computers were lined up against the wall, there were at least a dozen machines in the center of the dome to heal your Pokemon and in the back there was a long counter with a nurse sitting at it ready to take Pokemon who needed emergency care. I knew the door in the back led to the surgery rooms and storage areas where people's Pokemon were sometimes kept. Hopefully none of my pokemon would ever be that badly injured.

"Come on we've got to tell the professor that we made it," Anita said, calling back all of her Pokemon.

"Wait," I said. "We have heal our pokemon first remember." And I sent Chloe into her pokeball.

Anita looked bored. "All right."

We walked over to the self serving healers that each sat on a white circular table in the center of the room. I put Chloe in one of the slots first and Anita filed in Flaps, Skipper, Chip and Ivy. A glass lid closed over the machine as we pressed the button and the balls spun around. As soon as the lid opened Anita snached up her pokemon and put them back into her bag. I grabbed Chloe's ball and followed Anita over to the computers where she began to type in Professor Swan's number.

"Hello girls," Professor Swan said and we saw her over the video call. "I see you've made it here safely. You're in third place you know. Not bad, you're time was 29 hours and 23 minutes. I hope you used that time to catch more pokemon, I dare say our record is pretty high, Mansfield already has four."

"That dirty little," Anita began to say but I cut her off. "Anita has four as well," I said. "Chloe's still my only Pokemon."

"Only One?" Professor Swan sounded surprised and a little disappointed in me. "Well I hope you catch some more soon or else you won't catch up with the others. Anita that's very impressive that you have four. Are you planning on raising them all or do you want to send some back to live with me?"

Anita seemed to consider this for a moment. "I'll send back Chip and Ivy. They'll live in your observatory right professor?"

"Right Anita," Professor Swan said nodding. "And you can ask for them back anytime you want. All you have to do is put them in the teleporter that should be right in front of the screen."

I saw what she was referring to and pointed it out to Anita. Shakily, she took out Chip's Pokeball and placed it on the teleporter.

"Ready?" she said and the teleporter grew hot.

"Ready," Professor Swan said nodding.

Anita pressed the button and in a flash of white light the pokeball was gone. Then she did it again, this time with Ivy's Pokeball.

"A rattata and a bellsprout," Professor Swan said holding up the Pokeballs. "They're both right here and I'll take very good care of them."

Anita looked relieved.

"Professor who beat us here besides Mansfield's group?" I asked and Anita leaned closer to the monitor.

The professor seemed to think for a second before confirming my worst fear. "I think Violet did. She got there yesterday evening."

Yesterday evening I thought wildly? How did she manage that? I thought I was so going to beat her since she took so long leaving the parade. Now what would I do?

"Well make sure you guys log your pokemon into the database if you haven't already," Professor Swan reminded. "I'd love to hear from you in the next town but I've got to run. Best of luck," she said and the the screen went black.

We did as we were told and both logged onto the website. I saw that only five other people had entered their Pokemon, Violet, Lillie, Mansfield, Melody and Jacob. I entered in Chloe's information and described how she could now produce her own electricity. When I clicked on Violet's name I saw that she had indeed made it to Accumula Town last night with two Pokemon, a Purrloin named Andromeda and a Totodile named Prodigy.

"A Totodile!" Anita exclaimed after glancing over at my screen. "That's one of the

rarest pokemon in the Hoenn League. There's no way Professor Swan gave her one of those."

"Then she have been given it," I said sounding annoyed. "There's never been one sighted in the woods around here.

One thing was clear and it made me mad. Violet was cheating.


	4. Showdown at the Pokemon Center

Chapter Four:

Anita and I split up for a while in Accumula Town. She wanted to stock up on more pokeballs and I wanted to do a bit of private training with Chloe. We went into the nearby forest and played around with a few wild pokemon. Chloe was still trying to build up her electric charge. I decided it would be best to have Chloe try use charge repeatedly to see if she could generate enough electricity to shoot it out on her attacker. Over and over again Chloe built up energy but instead of crackling forwards like I'd hoped it would do it left her exhausted and a little burnt out. I decided that was enough training for a while.

There was a little market square in Accumula town where I could buy things to help on my journey. I bought a belt to store my pokeballs in as well as (it may sound weird) stickers. They were letter stickers so I picked out the letters C-H-L-O-E so I wouldn't get Chloe's ball mixed up with any of my others once I had more. I bought a few in case Anita wanted to share.

As a passed a display of Pokeballs I saw Anita holding two or three brightly colored ones like she was trying to decide what to buy. When she saw me she put the pokeballs down and rushed over.

"Success," She said holding up a brown paper bag. "I just bought ten new pokeballs. That brings my total up to twelve. No one can stop me now." Flaps, who was sitting on her shoulder cooed. "Now come on," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "We have to go if we want to be Violet to the next town. That's Striaton City I think, home to our first gym battle. Come on."

We pushed our way though the crowds of people and out of Accumula Town. Then we were back on the road but out of the forest, at least for now. Skipper and Chloe raced ahead and Flaps circled above us looking as healthy as ever. My legs were sore from walking but the sun was shining and Striaton city was only a few miles away. Maybe Violet was already there, I didn't know but I was ready to bet someday I'd catch up with her.

It wasn't long before we came across a boy, not from our class but probably from Accumula Town. He was maybe a few years younger than me.

"Wanna battle?" He asked me, holding up a Pokeball.

"I want to!" Anita said, cutting in before I could reply. She immediately sent out Flaps. "Use wing attack!" she said as the boy sent out a Mankey.

I watched the battle maybe a little too bitterly as I had been looking forward to my first trainer battle. Anita's Starly easily beat the boy's Mankey which was to be expected. People who didn't take Pokemon classes normally didn't know the correct way to battle or raise their Pokemon. It was when the boy had just offered to shake hands when something odd happened. Flaps began to glow until all could be seen was a bright white light. The light got bigger and bigger until all is began to fade. As the light cleared we could all see a bigger and slightly different bird than before. Flaps had just evolved into Staravia.

"Yes an evolution!" Anita cried, rushing over to Flaps and stroking his long feathery back. "I bet I'm the first one in the class to have their Pokemon evolve." She hugged flaps who was now too big to be picked up.

Flaps cooed and took off into the sky, circling above us as we traveled down the path. Any time we saw strangers along the way Anita would point up and yell, "You see that Pokemon? That's my Pokemon. It evolved."

As we made our way off the paved road and back into the forest I felt like our Pokemon were stronger as a team. I'd had my first trainer battle too which had ended in a victory. Chloe perked up after that and continued to walk ahead of us with Skipper. We picked up the pace again, stopping less frequently to train and worrying more about getting to Striaton City by sundown. We knew Accumula Town and Striaton were a lot closer together than Peridot and Accumula were so we were planning on spending the night at the Pokemon Center. We weren't far away and were making good time.

When Straiton at last peaked ahead of us the sun was just about ready to set and the vibrant colors that went along with it began to form in the sky. It was a lot bigger than Accumula town and it took us almost an hour to find the Pokemon Center. The huge building was much more crowded than the one in the last town and we had to wait our turn before healing our Pokemon. Anita had caught yet two more pokemon on our journey there and according to Professor Swan, she was now in the lead. After video chatting with my parents and my little sister, I checked the class database. Violet now had not only a Purrloin and a Totodile, but also a Torchic. How was that possible? Torchics weren't native to the Unova region and as far as I knew hadn't been brought over yet by other trainers like most of the common Pokemon. It made no sense.

After Anita agreed with me about Violet's Pokemon choices, we decided to ask for a room in the Pokemon Center, after all, our necks were still cramped from sleeping outside.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said shaking her head. "We're completely booked except for our last ten rooms. This is when we usually hold our Pokemon battles to see who gets them. Here's the sign up sheet." She handed us a clipboard.

"Pokemon battles?" I said, surprised.

"Oh," the nurse said, seeming to understand. "You must be new. When a Pokemon Center fills up for the night and we have limited space left we have a Pokemon Tournament to see who gets the last remaining rooms. Just fill out your name and the kind of Pokemon you're going to use in the tournament.

"I'll use Flaps," Anita said, confidently writing down her name.

I also wrote mine and Blitzle in the box where I was suppose to write my Pokemon's official name.

"And I assume you two will be rooming together to just bracket your names on the list like this," the nurse said taking the clipboard and scribbling on it.

We sat on one of the soft white benches and waited for about half an hour before the tournament started. Anita was tired and complaining about being hungry and I was in serious need of a hot shower. If we didn't win this I didn't know what we were going to do.

There were about forty people in all and thirteen groups. The tournament took place in the Pokemon Center training facility where there were three Pokemon battle courts. We were each to use only one Pokemon each. Our first opponent was a group of five kids each, looked very tough.

"Go Chloe!" I yelled and the Pokeball exploded in light.

"You can get 'em Flaps," Anita said and Flaps appeared soaring though the air.

Since we only had two Pokemon, only two of the trainers were allowed to compete against us. They quickly circled up and then three of them stepped down leaving only the biggest tough looking trainers. We were toast.

The six groups that won the first round were guaranteed a room for the night. The rest of us had to battle for the last four rooms.

Anita and I paired up again after healing our Pokemon from the previous defeat. We'd been paired up against an elderly couple and I took pity on them. What could I do? Elderly people didn't usually request to stay at a Pokemon Center but when they did it was only polite to give them the room instead of having them camp outside. Anita gave me murderous looks as we walked away from the resignation. That meant we only had one last chance to get a room for the night.

There were four groups left. Us, a teenage guy who was letting his Pokemon wander off ahead of him and two girls that were a little older than we were. The teenager was easy and we were soon regretting not getting paired with him. A girl with long brown braids defeated him in two shots. Now the only thing stopping us from getting that hotel room and hot shower were two girls.

We sent out our Pokemon. Electricity crackled around Chloe and she stomped her foot.

"Use quick attack!" I told her and she did, hitting our opponent's Sandshrew squarly in the chest.

Anita battled along side Flaps and we did our own thing for a few minutes, trying to isolate the other team's Pokemon. Then we realized what we were doing wrong. Anita and I had to work together to win, not separately. As soon as we both realized this our strategy changed. We focused on just one of the opponents Pokemon and cornered it. With the wave of a checkered flag the referee soon declared it unable to battle.

"All right!" Anita said, high fiving me. "We make a pretty good team."  
>And we did. The match was soon over and we had won. A collapsed onto the fluffy white bed and let Chloe climb up too. The room was extremely cramped and had a third bed just in case. There was a bathroom where we could shower, a few basic kitchen appliances and a mini fridge. The best part was the shade that could be pulled up to give us a few of the Straiton City skyline. It was beautiful and as I fell asleep and dreamed of the day to come where I would go to the biggest building that could be spotted from the Pokemon Center: The Straiton Gym.<p> 


	5. My First Gym Battle

Chapter Five:

After a wonderful breakfast complimentary of the Pokemon Center, I felt energized and ready to challenge the gym. Chloe seemed ready too. She was awake and crackling with electricity. We headed over to the Pokemon Center Training Facility first to work on some last minute training. I wanted to see if I could get Anita to use that move where she shot electricity out of her body before we challenged the gym. I hooked her up to one of the machines and started to track her electricity levels.

"Come on just a bit more," I said as the meter began to quiver and slowly lift. "Now use shock wave!"

Nothing happened.

Chloe looked determined. She tried it again but only managed a few stray sparks. Then I had the idea to give her some extra electricity. I hopped onto the treadmill which was hooked up to the machine and started to run. Slowly but surely, the bar started to rise. I ran faster and faster until I was sweating more than Chloe. She held her ground until finally her body erupted into a shower of sparks aimed right at the training dummy. It exploded into a pile of foam and rubble.

"You did it!" I said jumping off the treadmill and panting over to where Chloe stood triumphantly. I understood now. It wasn't just Chloe doing the work for me all the time, we were partners. I had to put in just as much effort if I wanted her to succeed.

We met up with Anita who was eating a muffin and tossing bites of it into Flap's beak. Skipper was also standing by looking hyper as usual. We had decided or rather Anita had requested multiple times to challenge the gym leader first and I of course caved. Chloe nudged me out the door and we set off Anita and Skipper running ahead towards the Striaton City gym.

The gym was not hard to find. It was a tall building made out almost entirely of glass. A huge blue arch way leading to glass sliding doors read 'Striaton Gym' and Anita snapped a picture of us standing under it. The doors slid open automatically as we stepped inside and saw a woman sitting at a counter in the middle of the room. She waved at us as we approached.

"Welcome!" she said. "Are you here to sign up for classes or challenge the gym

leader?"  
>"We're here to beat the gym leader," Anita said confidently.<p>

The woman smiled. "I like your attitude. Incase you're new to this process I'll give you some pointers. This gym officially became a flying type gym last year so stay away from using ground or bug type Pokemon. If you have any electric Pokemon they're super effective against birds and will do almost double the damage."

I wave of relief washed through me as I gripped Chloe's pokeball tightly in my hand. Chloe would have it easy for her first gym.

"How many gym badges do you have?" The woman asked.

"None," we said in unison.

"That's okay," she said. "It only means Damion will use two pokemon against you. The more gym badges you have, the tougher your gym battles will get."

That made sense, this way we wouldn't have to battle a gym leader with eight badges. He'd go easier on us because we were new.

"Just type your names here," the woman said, handing us a tablet. "I assume you two have trainers licences so when you type in your name just wait until the bar code pops up."

When we looked confused she explained.

"I see you're holding yours," the woman said to Anita and she held up her Pokedex. "Just check the barcode on the back, it's really simple. This was if you accidentally lose your badge you still have proof that you won."

We did so and the pictures we'd taken on Pokemon Class picture day were suddenly projected on the glass walls ahead with our names on top and a light that blinked 'Challenger'. It was a little embarrassing.

"You're all set," the woman said, taking back the tablets. "Just take that elevator all the way up to the top and good luck!"  
>I thanked her and followed Anita into the glass elevator. Inside there were no walls so we stayed to the middle as it began to rise off the ground. Higher and higher we climbed as I realized the lower levels were meant for pokemon classes and the people who trained at the gym. Finally the elevator reached a point where it became a platform and we were both standing on top of the building, the wind in our hair, facing an official looking arena. We both stepped off the platform and onto the gravely turf. I prayed Chloe wouldn't be too afraid of heights. Just then some one rose from a platform on the other end, the gym leader.<p>

"Hello girls," the gym leader said. He was older than us maybe seventeen and had dark skin. "I'm Damion, your opponent today. It's so nice to meet new trainers and be there first gym battle. You two are actually my fifth and sixth opponent today. Do you by any chance happen to be from Peridot Town? I battled four trainers this morning from there and it was also their first gym battle."

"Mansfield, Lillie, Jacob and Melody," I said. "Yeah we know them."

"I think there might be something in the water in Peridot town because they all managed to beat me, even a girl last night I forget her name but she was also from there," Damion said proudly.

Violet, I thought as annoyance flicked through me.

"Well girls I hope you're not afraid of heights because I'm not going easy on you," Damion said taking a step back. "Who's up first."

I took a seat in the bleachers which were located dangerously close to the building's edge to watch Anita battle Damion. When I'd asked her her plan she's only grinned at me saying there was nothing to worry about. She made it sound like she had a strategy but I didn't know what it was.

The wind blew harsh as Damion and Anita sent out their first Pokemon. Damion sent out a Pidgey and Anita sent out Flaps.

"Wow that's a nice Staravia you've got there," Damion said. "That's pretty impressive that you've gotten it to evolve even before your first gym match."

The match began. Anita ordered Flaps around for a bit which was pretty typical but Damion's Pidgey was not like any other I'd seen her battle before. It looked like it was literally taking no damage. Meanwhile Flaps was getting pretty beat up. Anita kept ordering it to attack downwards towards the Pidgey but Flaps looked like it had still not grown into it's new shape. He was too slow and kept hitting the ground when Pidgey moved quickly away just in time.

"Maybe you should call it back," Damion said as Flaps hit the ground again this time having trouble getting back up.

"No," Anita said stubbornly and continued to order Flaps to attack the Pidgey with the same move. Finally when Flaps was not longer able to get up she called him back to his Pokeball. "Fine," she said. "But I have an even stronger one in here," Anita said as she held up I knew what must be Skipper's Pokeball.

Skipper jumped out and the battle went along the same lines. This time though, Damion's Pidgey was more on the offence. It used things like wing attack and quick attack, they quickly tired out Anita's poor Lillipup. I couldn't believe it, Anita was going to loose.

"It's okay Anita," I called as Anita started to look frustrated. "You can always get stronger and come back later. The health of your Pokemon is more important than winning."

"I'm not going to lose," Anita yelled as she called back Skipper. I didn't know what Anita planned on doing. It wasn't like she had any more Pokemon unless she'd retrieved Ivy and Chip form Professor Willow and I hadn't seen her use the PC or mention anything about it.

"Do you have any more Pokemon to send out?" Damion asked, sounding disappointed.

"All I need to do is render your Pokemon unable to battle," Anita said, a new fire to her voice. "Well I can make that happen." All of a sudden I saw the Pokeball fly out of Anita's hand.

"Anita no!" I yelled but it was too late.

I realized with horror what Anita's plan had been all along. If she couldn't win the battle with her Pokemon, she was going to catch Damion's so they wouldn't fight for him anymore. It was a horrible thought and I scolded myself for not seeing it sooner. I couldn't watch, I looked through the cracks of my fingers as the ball flew through the air towards the Pidgey. Then right as the Pokeball was suppose to open, it seemed to bounce off some invisible shield around Pidgey and fall apart.

"Disqualified," Damion shouted and Anita's grin suddenly vanished. "How dare you try to catch another trainer's Pokemon," he said marching towards her. Anita seemed to realize Damion was mad at her and took a few steps backwards. "I'm going to let you go because you're a child and you may not have known it was wrong but I am disgusted by your behavior. I was looking forward to battling someone from Peridot Town because the other challenges I've received have been exciting, but this? This is just sick."

Anita frowned and instead of apologizing demanded a rematch.

"Out," Damion said and pointed to the elevator.

"You just don't want to admit I'm better than you," Anita said as she turned away from him. "Come on Penny we're leaving. We're not wanted here."

I couldn't believe what Damion had said but I was glad he said it. Part of me felt like Anita deserved it especially now that she was forcing me to leave with her even though I hadn't even gotten my fair battle. I'd been really looking forward to my first gym battle especially since I could use Chloe and win easily since she was a good match up. I looked from the Pokeball in my hand to Anita. I still really wanted the gym battle but then again, would Damion even let me battle him now that he'd seen what Anita tried to do. I was saved from having to make the decision by Damion.

"I said for you to get out," he said to Anita. "I still haven't battled your friend."

Anita's jaw dropped like she'd just been burned by a tepig. She turned on her heel and stepped onto the elevator platform.

"I'll meet you back at the Pokemon center after you loose Penny," she said and the elevator lowered back down.

I almost wanted to cry.

"I'm so sorry about Anita," I said. "I don't know why she did that."  
>Damion seemed to consider me for a moment as if deciding weather to be nice to me or not. He seemed to trust me because he said, "I don't know why you travel with her," and walked back to the other side.<p>

This was it, I was finally getting my first Pokemon match. Damion sent out a different pokemon this time and when my Pokedex identified it, I discovered it was called a Ducklet. It was very cute, like a little blue duck and I kind of wanted to catch one for myself. I sent out Chloe and she sparked with electric energy.

"An electric type," Damion smiled. "Good move."

I hoped he wouldn't find out that I actually didn't have any other Pokemon to choose from. Chloe and I started strong. I told her to use shock wave and it worked extremely well, the Ducklet was called back after only one shock.

"Wow!" The gym leader called. "That is one electric shock! How long have you been training that Blitzle? It's very strong for a beginner."

"Only a few days," I called back. "She was my first Pokemon."

"With some more training I can see that Pokemon going very far," Damon chuckled as he sent out another Pokemon. "Go Lucky!" he called and another bird Pokemon appeared. It was a Fearow, the evolved form of Sparrow according to my Pokedex. The giant bird was just as big as Chloe was.

Chloe and I used shock wave again but Chloe was just about out of electricity. She looked tired again, like she needed a recharge. I knew we needed to work on her stamina but now was not the time. The Fearow kept attacking but I didn't know what to do.

"Come on Chloe," I said. "I know you've got another charge in you. We can do it, I know we can. Remember Chloe, we're a team." The Fearow used wing attack and I felt like I'd been hit as well. Just then I felt something build up in me and I saw electricity starting to build up around Chloe. Then I realized it wasn't just electricity, it was fire. Chloe's fur radiated brilliant red flames that built up a great amount of energy. All of a sudden I realized what was happening.

"Chloe use Flame Charge!" I yelled and a column of flames hit the Fearow completely wiping it out. It was the most amazing feeling in the world.

I ran over to hug Chloe as Damion called back his Pokemon.

"Chloe you did it!" I said as I stroked her back. "You learned a new move all by yourself."

"Not by herself," Damion said coming over to us. "You and your Pokemon have a true bond and I see that now. Even though you've only been together for a short time it's obvious, a little love can go a long way. Here, you deserve this," Damion said and he handed me a tiny silver wing badge. "My faith in Peridot Town is restored thanks to you," he laughed. "If only you could teach your friend a thing or two about the bond between a trainer and Pokemon. I can see you going far Penny. Just whatever you do promise you won't give up. How ever hard it may seem, being a Pokemon Trainer is a reward within itself. If you want to be the best you've got to earn it just like you earned that badge." He winked at me. "Good luck at the next gym!" He called as I waved until I could no longer be seen on the platform.

I was in the elevator tube when I realized Chloe was still by my side. My cheeks burned from smiling so much and even Chloe seemed to glow with happiness. I stared at the little badge in my fingers and wondered what I'd do with it. When I reached the bottom level there was a little shop where I could buy special items from the gym. I bought a slim, shiny silver and pink jacket that looked very stylish on me if I do say so myself. It had the Pokemon league insignia on the back and a place to pin all my gym badges on the inside so that I could just hold out my jacket for people to see my badge. I also bought Chloe a nice hairbrush because she deserved a clean coat.

When I came out of the shop I was back in the entrance to the gym. I even bumped into a few of my old classmates who had just arrived in Striaton this morning. They all gawked at my new gym badge so I wished them luck as the registered at the front as I had done. Now there was only one unpleasant thing I had to do; find Anita.


	6. River Deep Trouble

Chapter Six:  
>Anita was waiting for me at the Pokemon Center. She was eating lunch and had graciously saved me a fruit cup because they were a two for one deal. When she saw me approaching Anita commented on the new Masonet but didn't even ask how the match had gone. I didn't say anything either after I'd gotten my trey and instead we talked about our plans for the day. We both agreed that Nacrene City was our next stop. This meant another hike that would take about two days if we were lucky. It was worth it though because Nacrene City had a gym. Assuming Mansfield's group was already headed that way we'd need to hurry and get going if we wanted to stay ahead of the rest of the class.<p>

We checked out of our room an hour later. I packed some snacks for the road since I knew Anita had forgotten and we headed out of the Pokemon Center, followed by our Pokemon. Good bye Striaton City, I thought after we'd taken a bus as far west as we could go in the city. Then we had to walk into the woods. More woods, I thought as we began walking. This time I really would catch a Pokemon.

It ended up being Anita again who caught the first Pokemon. This time it was a Budew named Imi. Imi waddled behind us occasionally bumping into trees or tripping on sticks, it didn't seem to bright. It wasn't until our trail widened out into a clearing that Anita and I made our first stop to train.

After working on Chloe's stamina for a while just by having her charge up then discharging it safely I heard Anita's footfalls behind me and knew the familiar giggle.

"I just caught a Patrat," she said and while my back was still turned I made a face. "Come on out Minnie."

In a flash of light yet another but slightly different rat Pokemon appeared. I knew I would never catch up to people like Anita but I was happy with just one Pokemon even if that probably put me in last place.

Around dusk we caught up with Mansfield's group. They were just setting up camp when we stumbled upon them and agreed to let us stay. Jacob had decided to stay in Striaton City and live there for a while so he could train his bird Pokemon at the gym. Mansfield said he didn't really have what it took to become a true Pokemon trainer. Just before we went to bed we all used Lillie's expensive and large tablet to call Professor Willow just to check in. She told us we were making very good time.

"You all are definitely in the lead," she said. "There's only one other person ahead of you and that's Violet. Gosh I told her not to go off on her own, she's suppose to travel with Sandy and Carmen but they're still both here in Peridot Town. Some people still hadn't left and are waiting a bit longer."

"Professor look at my new gym badge," Mansfield said, producing the same badge I had received from Damion.

"That's very good," the Professor said sounding pleased. "I will tell you though, Violet has already one two gym badges.

"Two!" we all exclaimed and the professor gave a nervous laugh.

"It's okay," I think Violet is off doing her own thing by now. I wouldn't try to compete with her at this point. She phoned me this morning from her private jet."

So that's how Violet was getting around so fast. This made me so mad. I was going to be better than Violet even if I had to claw my way to the top. Nothing Professor Willow said would make me give up.

As Anita showed off her Pokemon to the group again, Lillie pulled me aside. She looked a little nervous and her brown hair flickered in the fire light.

"Do you like traveling with Anita?" she said and I was taken aback. I didn't know Lillie that well. She was an eighth grader I think but small for her grade. I wondered why she would ask.

"I guess," I said but it wasn't entirely truthful.

"Well I'm fed up and sick of traveling with Mansfield," Lillie said suddenly. "The only reason I agreed to go with him is because Melody likes him and she wanted to go with me. I think part of the reason Jacob left is because of him, always showing off and calling people weak." Lillie muttered. "What I'm saying is, well as far as I can tell, Anita and Mansfield are a lot alike so I thought maybe you and I could travel together instead."

I was about to say no when I realized how much the plan made sense. There would be no more Anita embarrassing me or picking on me or comparing me to her. I wouldn't have to watch any of her Pokemon suffer anymore and I could travel with someone who would actually understand me. Still, I was reluctant. Anita was my friend and I couldn't just leave her. Then I remembered what she'd done at the gym. How could I travel with someone like that.

"Can I think about it?" I told Lillie. "I'll tell you in the morning when I make up my mind."

Lillie nodded and agreed. "I'm just not sure how much more of Mansfield I can take," she said and clutched her head like she had a headache. "Goodnight."

I didn't want Chloe to think I'd forgotten her so I slept in the tent with her next to my sleeping bag. Beside me Anita slept soundly in her sleeping bag but I was wide awake. My head was spinning trying to think about what to tell Lillie and Anita in the morning. Lillie seemed like a nice person and I regretted not befriending her when we were still in Pokemon class. Anita on the other hand was starting to get on my last nerve. Could I ever forgive her for what she did and said to Damion? She still hadn't even asked me if I'd gotten a gym badge or not. I didn't know if I could handle her falling apart at the next gym.

The next morning Anita and I awoke bright and early as to not let Mansfield's group get ahead of us again. Lillie was waiting for me by the burnt out fire pit looking hopeful. Her bright brown eyes and freckled face looked so worried I couldn't just turn away a perfect solution but how would Anita like traveling with Mansfield and Melody? Finally I had to speak.

"I can't leave Anita," I said and Lillie's expression fell.

"Wait, can I at least come with you two?" she asked earnestly. "Anyone's better than Mansfield trust me."

I didn't think that was necessarily true but I agreed to let her come realizing it was the perfect solution. I wasn't sure Lillie would want to come if I didn't drop Anita but obviously she didn't know her that well. Having a new traveling companion would make my journey with Anita a whole lot easier.

"You're leaving us?" Mansfield gawked with Lillie broke the news. "You do realize that by traveling with these to you're committing yourself to failure."

Lillie got angry. "I'm leaving," she said and turned her back on Mansfield. "And I'm taking my supplies with me." She grabbed the backpack and tent from Mansfield leaving him speechless.

"I'm sorry Melody," she said but Melody didn't look too upset. She shrugged and waved us goodbye.

Anita didn't seem too upset that I hadn't asked her before letting Lillie join the team. She pretty much just ignored her and ran off ahead of us. We knew, not far from here was our next gym battle in Nacrene City.

It wasn't long before we hit a river and had one of two options. We could either go the long way around which might add another day to our journey or we could swim.

"If only I had a water Pokemon," I said as we faced the rushing rapids.

"I have one," Lillie said, taking out a Pokeball. "Go Annie!"

A quite round Pokemon appeared. It was blue and shaped like a ball with a short muzzle and spiky tail. The Pokemon squealed a Lillie happily and bounced up and down.

"It's a Maril," I said, recognizing the cute little guy.

Lillie nodded. "Alright here goes nothing!" Lillie cannonballed into the lake after taking off her bags. There was a splash and the Maril jumped in after here. "Annie's tail floats so we can take turns grabbing hold of her and crossing the lake. She's a really good swimmer so she won't get swept away in the current."

Just then Lillie lost her footing but Maril held her back. "Thanks Annie," she said and began to swim. When Lillie reached the other side she asked me to release one of the Pokeballs in her bag. When I did a Geodude appeared and through Lillie's stuff all the way across the river and she caught it.

"Now all I need is a fire Pokemon to warm up,'' she called back to us. "The water is freezing."

"I'll go next," I began to say but before I could jump in, Anita pushed ahead of me. She held tight to Maril and paddled across the rushing stream. Again, Geodude threw her stuff after her.

"Thanks Geodude," I said as he threw my stuff over as well. Then I put him back into his Pokeball and braced myself for the cold rush of water.

It hit me like a blast. My head went all the way under which I hadn't been expecting. When I came up my vision was blurry and I felt for Annie. My teeth were chattering as my hand closed around Annie's tail but it was slippery and I soon lost my grip. Just then a huge current tore me from the Pokemon and sent me flying down stream. When I tried to open my mouth to yell it only filled with water as I was pushed under again. I felt my lungs filling up and my vision went blurry. When I tried to hold my breath the water in my lungs made me choke and open my mouth for more water to come in. The rocks at the bottom of the stream hit me one by one and my legs soon felt like punching bags. This was it, I thought.


	7. The Pokemon Hero

Chapter Seven:

Just as I thought I couldn't hold my breath for one second longer a bubble of air surrounded me. Something furry had just swam out of no where and was now up against my back. As my vision cleared and I coughed up more water and saw that it was a Pokemon. I didn't know what it was but it looked like an otter or something furry like that. It looked like It was pushing the water away from me but that it couldn't hold on much longer. I held onto the otter as it rose to the surface and I at last broke free. Quickley, I paddled over to the shore. The rapids had become calm here so I knew I must be at least a mile from where I started. The Pokemon that had saved me followed me to where I sat panting on the bank and lay down. Since I left my Pokedex in my bag I didn't still know what it was that saved me.

"Thank you," I said to the Pokemon. "Thank you for saving me."

The Pokemon stood on it's hind legs and barked it's name.

"Buizel?" I asked after hearing it's cry a few times. I tought that sounded right, after all I hadn't studied the Sinnoh region as much as some of the others.

The Pokemon seemed to agree because it stopped saying it's name.

I felt bad because I knew Lillie and Anita would be worried sick and I still had Lillie's Geodude in my trainers purse. Whould they go on without me or were they out looking for me right now?

I sent out Chloe from her Pokeball and she stamped her paw nervously. If only I had a bird Pokemon to send out that could search the area. Maybe Anita was right and it was wrong to only carry one Pokemon with me. Geodude wasn't much help either. He pretty much just rolled around in the mud. So I was lost with no map, no food, no shelter and no idea where I was. This was turning into pretty much my worst nightmare. At least I have Chloe, I thought to myself.

It wasn't long before I realized the otter Pokemon, Buizel was following me. I'd felt bad about leaving it behind after it saved me and all, but I didn't want to try to catch it if I didn't want to be caught. I owed it that much. The Buizel continued to follow me through the woods as I wondered what I hoped was north. Finally I turned around and it stopped in it's tracks. It shook out it's fur and water droplets flew everywhere.

"You're a funny Pokemon," I laughed and the Buizel did a little dance with his arms.

Just then a wild Tranquil flew out of nowhere and aimed it's razor sharp beak right at me. Chloe readied an electric shock but it was Buizel that stepped in the way. He shot a powerful water gun straight at the evolved Pokemon and it fell off it's branch and flew away.

"Thank you again Buizel," I said, kneeling down to the little guy. "You're a pretty good body guard you know."

The Buizel seemed happy about this and the same little odd movement with his arms. It was extremely cute. Then he nudged my trainer's purse and with a start I realized what he wanted.

"You want to help me find my way out of here?" I asked, and couldn't keep the excitement out of my voice.

The Buizel nodded and shook his fur out again. It was extremely furry and pretty skinny as well. I'd be sure to give it lots of food when and if I ever found the Pokemon Center.

"Okay then," I said taking out a Pokeball and standing up. "Welcome to the team."

The Pokeball closed around Buizel and because to blink on and off. It made a odd whirring sound until it clicked and became still.

"Yes!" I shouted and Chloe bucked up on her hind legs. "I caught my first Pokemon!"

When I sent out Buizel I decided he needed a name so I ran few by him. "Figaro...Casper...Max...Ellis..." Buizel stopped his foot for each of them so I kept thinking. "What about Bellamy?" I said and Buizel seemed to agree. "Okay then," I said grinning. "Welcome to the team Bellamy."

I was happy to have three Pokemon by my side as we trudged though the woods, even if one wasn't really mine. They kept me company and kept my spirits up as we stumbled though woods after woods after woods. Finally, we at last came upon a trail. I was so relieved I almost sat down and thanked the trail for being there. My clothes were no longer damp because the sun had dried them up and Geodude had requested to go back into his Pokeball. I didn't know which way to follow the trail so I picked what I hoped was north.

It wasn't long until I came across a Pokemon Center. It wasn't a big one like in the city but it was small and made out of wood. When I went inside I was relieved to find a nurse sitting at a counter reading a book. There were no self serve Pokemon healers so she helped me instead.

"I'm sorry you got separated from your group," the nurse said after hearing my story. "Why don't you use that phone to call them over there."

I thanked her and rushed over to the computer where I dialed Lillie's phone number. After it rang a few times, Lillie picked up.

"Penny!" she exclaimed after seeing my face. "Anita it's Penny!"

Anita's face appeared on the screen next to Lillie.

"Where are you?" Anita asked. Was that a look of genuine concern I saw? "We've been searching for hours. Lillie thought you were dead."

"You thought she was dead," Lillie corrected. "Are you okay? Do you have my Geodude?"

"I'm fine and I'm at a Pokemon Center somewhere in the woods," I said. "I just gave Geodude to one of the nurses. She's healing him and my other Pokemon."  
>"You make it sound like you have more than one," Anita said, grinning slyly. "What did you catch?"<p>

"You'll have to wait and see," I grinned.

"But what happened?" Lillie asked. "How did you escape the current? Without a water Pokemon it must have been nearly impossible."

I explained to them how I'd been rushing down the river when a mysterious Pokemon had jumped in and saved me. When we'd reached the shore he'd wanted to come with me and we'd been stumbling though the woods ever since.

"Wow," Lillie gawked. "I want a Pokemon to save me like that."

Just then the nurse tapped me on the shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt miss but you're Pokemon are back to perfect health."

She handed me the Pokeballs and I tucked them back into my bag.

"Will you guys meet me at the Nacrene City Pokemon center tomorrow morning?" I asked. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of Geodude."

The nurse was happy to let me stay the night. Since the Pokemon Center was only meant for trainers who were passing through, there were plenty of empty rooms although they were much smaller and plainer than the one Anita and I had stayed in back in Striaton City. As I changed into pajamas, also supplied by the Pokemon Center, I noticed the cuts and bruises on my legs from riding the current. They hurt a lot more now that I noticed them so I quickly rummaged around for first aid which the Pokemon Center had a lot of. Before I went to sleep I made sure my Pokemon had plenty of food. Bellamy and Chloe seemed to get along well which I was thankful of but Geodude seemed oftly distant. He probably missed Lillie. As I drifted off to sleep that night in a rickety wooden bed I was thankful most of all for Bellamy, my hero and brand new Pokemon.

I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, though my legs still stung when I put my pants on. They were the same clothes from yesterday unfortunately because the Pokemon Center couldn't supply everything. A different nurse greeted me this morning when I came down and checked out of my room. She told me Nacrene City wasn't far and gave me a map.

I thanked her and left the Pokemon Center with Chloe and Bellamy on my trail.

We hiked for two hours straight without stopping to train once. I wanted to get to Lillie and Anita and my stuff. At last I came upon the entrance to Nacrene city and almost fell over with exhaustion. Sometimes I envied Chloe and Bellamy's ability to just go back inside a Pokeball instead of walking. I wanted someone to carry me for a change.

By the time I reached the Pokemon Center it was high noon. Anita and Lillie were waiting playing a board game when they saw me and rushed over.

"Penny you scared us," Lillie said. "We're never doing anything that stupid again."

"What's your new Pokemon?" Anita asked.

"First let me give you back this guy," I said handing over Geodude to Lillie. "Come on out Bellamy," I said and my Buizel appeared between us.

"That's what saved you?" Anita said.

"You're a hero Bellamy," Lillie said rushing over and kneeling next to him. "Good job saving Penny."

Bellamy looked pleased.

"We already called Professor Willow," Lillie said, "But you should probably call her too and make sure you add Bellamy to the Class Database."

"I'm in the lead for capturing the most Pokemon," Anita bragged. "I've got eight and Mansfield only has seven." Just then she seemed to remember something. "Oh my gosh you've got to see this. Skipper, show Penny how cool you look."

Skipper appeared but he didn't look like a Lillipup anymore. He had evolved into a bigger, taller and darker haired Pokemon, a Herdier.

"It evolved last night after I beat some little kid," Anita said. "He was so surprised, I bet he'd never seen a Pokemon evolve before."

I was happy for Anita but was also a little concerned she was evolving her Pokemon too fast. After what happened at the Striaton gym, I would have thought she wouldn't want her Pokemon to evolve anymore.

"I'm ready to challenge the gym leader," Anita said confidently. "We've waited around long enough, let's go."


	8. The Fear of Drowning

Chapter Nine:

After I contacted the Professor and my parents just in case they were worried we set off towards the gym. I was a little concerned about Bellamy because I hadn't had anytime to train him. I would have liked to use the Pokemon center's gym but Anita seemed set on going as soon as possible. Trying to make him feel better, I gave him some reassuring looks on the bus to the gym but he didn't return them. I hoped this gym wouldn't have me rely just on Bellamy, I needed to use one of the Pokemon I'd trained before.

When we reached the gym it was obvious what we were up against. It was a big blue octagon with lots of glass windows like before. The gym was a lot shorter than the Striaton gym, maybe only one story but it was very long. When we entered there was another woman waiting for us at a counter next to a rack of towels. Instead of having separate rooms, the whole gym seemed to be spread out before us. There was a long swimming pool full of trainers and their Pokemon followed by two smaller pools next to eachother. Then there was an area where trainers could train their water Pokemon on land and battle other Pokemon. This was water gym.

"Hello," the woman said as we approached her. "Are you here to join the gym or challenge our gym leader?" she asked.

"We want to challenge," Anita said in that same arrogant tone as before.

"Okay," the woman said and typed something on her computer. "Is this your first gym?"

We all shook our heads.

"Good," she said. "Now just enter your trainer ID's in here and you can go straight on back."

We did so and again, our faces appeared on the screen above us. Some of the trainers that we in the water waved at us and wished us luck as we passed by, careful not to slip and fall in. When we reached the back I realized what the roaring sound was. Ahead of us was a giant, white water waterfall crashing before us. As approached the waterfall began to part and we were able to pass underneath it completely dry.

The next room was what I'd expected. It was a Pokemon arena except this one was a pool with rafters floating on top of it for Pokemon that couldn't swim. I didn't think this would be much help though because Chloe would be too heavy and fall right though. Unfortunately I knew Chloe was my only advantage because electric Pokemon we strong against water. Now I wouldn't be able to use her.

A door opened on the other side of the room and a girl with chocolate brown hair and wearing a blue swimsuit came out followed by a boy with sandy blonde hair and wearing swim trunks and a t shirt. The girl looked maybe a few years older than me and the boy about my age. There was no way these people could be the gym leader.

"Hi there," the girl said, calling to us. "My name's Essie, welcome to the Nacrene City gym." I saw the boy take a seat in one of the stands. "That's my brother Mason," she said, referring to the boy. "Now which one of you want to challenge me first?"

"I do! I do!" Anita said and she sounded like a kindergartener.

Lillie and I took a seat in the stands.

"Okay," Essie said as both trainers took a stand on either end of the arena. "We are allowed one Pokemon each. I will use Clara!" she said and sent out a Oshawott, one of the rare beaver Pokemon native to Unova. They use to give them out to beginning trainers before Unova became over populated with Pokemon from other regions.

Anita held out a Pokeball and threw it at one of the mats.

"I choose Skipper," she said and Lillie and I exchanged looks.

If she'd chosen Flaps, he could at least fly instead of trying to balance on one of the mats or if she chose Imi she was small and grass was strong against water. Anita had probably only chosen Skipper because she'd wanted to show off that'd he'd evolved.

Anita's choice turned out to be a disaster. Skipper was having a hard time balancing on the mats on it's own so when the Oshawott attacked him he fell straight into the water. As Skipper tried to get on to the mat again he kept slipping and plunging straight back into the water. I wondered why Anita wouldn't just call him back already. It wasn't until the mat shot from Skippers grip and he was left flailing in the water that Anita took pity. She called him back just as his head went under.

"Fine," Anita said and put Skipper's Pokeball away. "But I've got an even better one in here," she said.

"I'm sorry," Essie said. "But you've lost. This match is one on one only. You can come back and challenge me another time though."

Anita looked angry. "But I want to challenge you now." she said and looked at me. "Right Penny? I'm allowed to challenge her again?"

I looked away as my face burned red, it was happening again.

"Please take a seat or leave the gym," Essie said.

Anita stormed out of there and didn't even wait for the waterfall to be lifted. She marched straight through and got all of her clothes wet.

"Okay," Essie said. "Who's next."  
>Lillie looked at me. "Do you want to go?" she asked.<p>

I thought for a moment before agreeing. There was some serious flaws in my plan but maybe even without training Bellamy would pull through.

Essie continued to use Clara so I sent out Bellamy. He landed with a splash in the water and swam in a happy circle before waiting for me to instruct him. I'd made sure to grab my pokedex before the match and quickly checked Bellamy's attacks.

"Bellamy use water gun," I told him and just like that, Bellamy shot a thin razor of water at the Oshawott.

Oshawott used some attack on Bellamy that sent him flying out of the water for a brief moment and he landed on one of the mats. Bellamy struggled to get up and lost his footing, sending him right back into the water. It wasn't looking good.

"Bellamy, dive under and attack from behind," I said but it did no good, the Oshawott just dodged and Bellamy landed with another splash. Essie's Oshawott was just too fast.

"Use quick attack," I said and it worked, Bellamy got one good hit in against Clara.

Bellamy was tired out, he'd used all his strength on attacks that didn't hit. His water gun only seemed to amuse the Clara and get her a little wet and quick attack left him tired. I didn't know what to do.

"Clara use focus energy," Essie said and Oshawott began to glow. "Now use razor shell."

All of a sudden Clara burst into action and sent Bellamy flying across the stadium. I caught him but he was heavy and I fell over. Bellamy wasn't responding.

"Bellamy," I said shaking my poor Pokemon. "Bellamy are you okay? Please tell me you're okay."

I didn't know what to do. Bellamy was hurt and in danger and I couldn't remember what was suppose to happen. I was like a deerling caught in the headlights.

"Mason will you take her to heal her Pokemon?" Essie asked after I tried to wake Bellamy up for a whole minute.

I felt stupid leaving the gym in disgrace with the boy. Lillie would probably be mad that I wasn't watching her gym match and now both me and Anita didn't have a badge.

Mason showed me one of the secret rooms in the gym that only trainer that lived there and some challengers were allowed to heal their Pokemon. There was a nurse there who also looked like a lifeguard that took Bellamy into her special care. I waited on the edge of my seat for a long time.

"How long have you been with that Buizel?" Mason asked. He looked very lively and curious like he thought a lot of things were amusing.

"A day," I told him.

Mason laughed. "Then that's why you lost," he said. "You have to be with a Pokemon for a while in order for them to trust you. Also you should train them in their home environments," he said and I gave him a quizzical look. "Bellamy is a water type Pokemon but can also walk on ground. That means you'll have to train him in both the water and on ground. When you battled my sister Essie you were in a pool but when you battle other gym leaders it will most likely be on ground."

"Thanks for the advise," I said.

Just then the nurse came out with Bellamy sitting up on a stretcher.

"Bellamy!" I exclaimed and rushed over to hug him. Bellamy's tail twirled around and he looked as healthy as ever.

"You seem to really like Pokemon," Mason said. "I watch my sister's battles a lot so I can learn from them and I've met a lot of trainers who are really awful to their Pokemon. It's like they don't even care about them they just care about how many they have and how powerful they are."

My thoughts immediately flew to Anita.

"Do you want to be a gym leader someday?" I asked.

Mason seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Maybe," he said. "But I want to travel the world first. I mean I want to be the very best Pokemon Trainer, maybe even the champion."

"Then why don't you?" I said.

Mason sighed. "I guess I've just never had enough inspiration to leave. Everything I ever knew is here in Nacrene city and I just can't imagine would it would be like actually on the road."

I nodded. I understood what he meant. Leaving Peridot Town hadn't been hard I'll admit. It was a pretty boring there and the thought of raising Pokemon sounded amazing but it had been hard to leave my family behind.

"Do you want me to help you?" Mason asked suddenly and I was taken aback. "I've got nothing to do today and annoying my big sister by having another trainer beat her sounds pretty good to me. Plus last night at dinner, Clara ate my dessert and I can hold a grudge."

"Sure," I said bewildered. "Thanks."

Mason showed me some of the smaller rooms in the gym where there were small

private pools.

"Okay first you have to get your Pokemon to trust you," Mason said. "Come on out Juno."

A Pokemon erupted from it's Pokeball and splashed into the pool. It was a Seel I realized. The Seel was beautiful and snow white and it glistened as it's head broke the surface. It smiled happily up at Mason.

"Juno's my best buddy, isn't that right Juno?" Mason said as he crouched down to pet her head. The Seel barked happily. "Why don't you try sending out Bellamy?" Mason suggested.

I did as he said and Bellamy appeared in the pool next to Juno.

"Now the key to making friends with water Pokemon," Mason began. Just then he jumped into the pool and made a splash behind Juno. "Is playing with them," he finished.

I stared at him, I couldn't just jump into the pool. Right then Bellamy hit me with a water gun and I was soaked. "Oh it's on," I told him playfully. Quickly I dumped everything I didn't want to get wet on the poolside and jumped in.

Suddenly I had an flashback to being pulled under the current in the woods. I felt the water close over my head and knew I had to get out. Struggling to the surface I heaved myself over the side and flopped like a Magikarp until I was a safe distance from the waters edge. Mason gave me a confused look.

"Can you swim?" he asked.

I felt stupid all over again. I hadn't expected to be so afraid of drowning. The thought hadn't even occurred to me until I was in the water but now all I could think about was a current picking up and sweeping me under.

"It's not that," I stuttered. "I had an accident," I tried to explain. "Recently. I got swept up in the current and Bellamy saved me. If it wasn't for him..."

"That was yesterday," Mason said as if putting the pieces together. "I'm sorry I had no idea. That Pokemon must really like you."

Just then Bellamy swam over and pulled himself out of the water. He walked over and nudged me as if trying to get me to stand up. I did so and he walked me over back to the water's edge.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Mason said as he watched me and Bellamy.

Bellamy slid into the pool and I sat at the edge and put my feet in.

"That's a good idea," Mason said swiming over. "You don't have to get in, just be closer to your Pokemon."

I did so and Bellamy's tail began to twirl. He splashed me playfully and I splashed him back.

"You two trust each other a lot more than I'd first thought," Mason commented. "But we need to make sure that reflects in your battling style. What moves can Bellamy use?"

"Just Water gun and Quick Attack I think," I said.

"Okay we can work with that. How about we start with Bellamy's water gun?"

Mason showed me how to improve Bellamy's stamina accuracy and strength. His water gun soon went from a thin line to a thick jet. It was amazing. Next we worked on his speed. Mason explained how his sister was big on speed. She was even holding back Clara from evolving because bigger Pokemon are slower. Since Bellamy was the bigger Pokemon of the two, he'd have to be twice as fast. Mason got out one of the pool buoys and we practiced hitting the target repetitively until Bellamy was as fast as a snakey eel. In less than an hour, Bellamy was tougher, faster and more connected than ever.

"Thank you Mason," I said after he'd gotten out of the water. "That was incredible. You must be a really good Pokemon trainer. It's too bad you can't come with us and challenge the gyms because I think you'd be a great Pokemon Master."

Mason blushed a little. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"I'd better go find my friends," I said. "They're probably looking for me. See you soon!"  
>When I went outside I didn't expect to see Lillie and Anita swimming in one of the large pools. They were both wearing swimsuits and Lillie was playing with Annie. When they saw me they waved me over.<p>

"Great news," Lillie said, she sounded really excited. "Essie has invited me to train at the gym."

"Really?" I said and I tried to fake excitement.

"Yeah," Lillie said. "Essie lets some of the best water type trainers live at the gym with her and she said my battling style was really unique. Plus she seemed really cool and I think we totally be friends."

I couldn't believe Lillie was leaving us. Just as I finally thought I would have someone other than Anita to travel with, Lillie ups and leaves us.

"So you won then?" I said and tried to sound happy for her.

"Yeah," Lillie said but she wouldn't meet my eye. "It's not your fault you know. I know you only just met Bellamy and if you could have used Chloe you would have won easily because electric is strong against water. It's really not fair that they only have mats floating on the water."

"It's okay," I said. "I'm going to challenge her again."

"Again?" Anita said. "Are you even allowed to do that?"  
>"I can challenge a gym as many times as I want," I said. "It's in the rulebook."<p>

"What!" Anita exclaimed. "They won't let me in again. Essie thinks I'm not ready and it's so not true."

"When are you going to challenge her?" Lillie asked.

"Right now," I replied.


	9. Sink or Swim

Chapter Ten:

Essie was waiting for me already when I entered the gym again. I saw Mason had sat back down in the stands but this time he was paying more attention. When Essie began the match I sent out Bellamy and he splashed into the water looking as attentive as ever.

Bellamy started off the match with a strong water gun that blew Clara off the mat. Clara regained her speed by launching a quick razor shell at Bellamy but he used quick attack and hit her from behind before she could land a strike. Just then Clara began to glow like she'd done before and was about to strike when all of a sudden Bellamy used a move I hadn't seen before. A dark shape rose form Bellamy and closed around Clara sending her spinning out of the pool.

"That was pursuit!" Mason exclaimed, standing up with anticipation.

"Clara!" Essie exclaimed rushing over to her hurt Pokemon side.

"Bellamy you won!" I said, running over and throwing my arms around the very wet Pokemon. Bellamy's tail twirled happily.

"Here," Essie said after she'd returned Clara to her Pokeball. "You deserve this."

She handed me a tiny badge in the shape of a tidal wave and I pinned it happily to my jacket right next to my wing badge.

"If at first you don't succeed try try again," Essie said.

Just then Mason came down and stood next to me. "Essie," he said. "I want to go with Penny."

"What?" Essie and I both said at the same time.

"You did mean it when you said you wanted me to come right?" Mason asked.

I nodded. "Of course."

"Then if that's alright, I want to travel the world with Juno and Penny. Maybe become a gym leader myself," Mason explained.

Essie seemed to think it over. "Well, if that's really what you want... then I guess it's alright with me."

"Yes!" Mason pumped his fist. "This is going to be so awesome. Thank you Essie."

Anita ended up being perfectly fine having Mason along. She just shrugged when I told her he was coming and I was starting to wonder if Anita cared or even wanted me on the journey. She didn't seem like she cared about anyone but herself.

After we said goodbye to Lillie, Anita, Mason and I decided to start our trek to Castelia City, the biggest city in Unova. Castalia was going to be tough to get to because we had to go through the Eterna forrest, and that was full of bug Pokemon. It was almost four o'clock but we couldn't fall to far ahead. Anita had informed me that because they waited in the Pokemon Center for me for too long, we'd dropped from third place to fifth.

Mason looked exsatic as we left Nacrene City. He was so happy, he couldn't even stop grinning. At one point he let Juno out of her Pokeball and carried her around so she could see the trees because Juno couldn't walk like the rest of our Pokemon. The Eterna Woods were interesting in the sense that instead of the sounds of birds chirping and Pokemon rustling about, there was a strange buzz and hum comming from everywhere. I cringed to think how many bug Pokemon it would take to make such a loud noise. Bug Pokemon were disgusting.

Of course, Anita had to catch several of them. Three discusting and creepy little bug Pokemon soon trailed behind us and I screamed as one touched my leg.

"Don't be mean Penny," Anita said, scooping up the Paras. "You wern't like this when I caught a Caterpie."

"I wasn't there when you caught a Caterpie," I said deadpan. "I didn't know you'd caught one."

"Oh yeah," Anita said as if just now remembering. "That was when you were drowning in the river, I forgot. I caught a Caterpie named Small, a Zigzagoon named Fluffy and a Shinx named Sparky, but I gave them all to Professor Willow to take care of because they were too weak."

"Yet you kept the brussle sprout," I muttered and watched as Imi fell over again by itself.

Mason had wondered ahead of us and I sped to catch up with him. He seemed entranced by all the other Pokemon he was seeing and kept stopping to stare at them.

"Are you going to catch one?" I finally asked.

Mason stood up. "I haven't decided what kind of trainer I want to be yet," he said. When I looked confused he continued. "I don't know if I want to be a water Pokemon trainer like my sister, or an Ice Pokemon Trainer like my Juno or if I want to be a balanced trainer like you where I have different types of Pokemon."

"I never thought of it that way," I said.

"If I want to become a gym leader like Essie, then I should choose just one type of Pokemon to train. That's how my sister became one by the time she was fifteen. She chose to train water Pokemon when she set of on her adventure three years ago and once she had eight gym badges she started applying to become a gym leader. The Nacrene gym used to be for normal type Pokemon you know. Last year when my sister became the gym leader she renovated it into a water Pokemon gym and I moved in with her. Our parents are also Pokemon trainers so they needed me to have a place to go when they were traveling the world," Mason said.

"And you want to be like your sister?" I asked.

Mason shook his head. "No, I want to be better than my sister."


	10. Castelia City

Chapter Eleven

I'll admit, we were lost. The Pinwheel forest was a lot harder to navigate than I had expected. Flaps flew over the area but even he couldn't point us in the right direction. It was becoming dark so we decided to pitch camp for the night. The tent wouldn't fit all three of us so Mason and I gave Anita the tent or rather Anita had laid claim to it and since I didn't want Mason to be the only one cast out for the night I laid my sleeping bag a few feet from him. We'd made camp near a calm stream where Bellamy and Juno could play together until it got too dark.

It was then I realized how hungry I was. I rummaged through my bag and found only a granola bar and a pack of gum. Anita was also out of food so it was Mason who came to the rescue. He'd smartly remembered that humans actually need food to survive and had packed several flattened sandwiches. It was an odd dinner but all the same it tasted good in our empty stomachs. I gave half my giant granola bar to Chloe and the other half to Bellamy but Anita seemed to be having the most trouble. She had with her three Pokemon and had already eaten most of her sandwich. Pokemon didn't need to eat as much as normal animals but they still got hungry. Now Anita had six hungry mouths for feed and without food, they wouldn't have the energy to battle. Mason came to the rescue again by giving Anita some of Juno's specialty crafted Pokemon food. It must have not tasted that good to the six other Pokemon but at least it was something.

In the morning we packed up camp and continued to wander the forest. We were just about to lose hope when we spotted a woman wearing a green komodo. She was sitting by a river staring at her reflection with an Eevee, a cute brown fox like Pokemon. When she saw us she stood.

"Who are you?" Anita asked her.

"I'm Sun Lee," the woman said. She was an asian girl with long black hair pinned in a traditional bun wrap on her head. "Are you children lost?"

We nodded and told her how we'd been wondering in the woods all morning and were looking for Castelia City.

The woman smiled kindly. "I can help you, I know these woods very well but first would one of you kindly spare me a Pokemon battle?"

"I'll do it!" Anita said confidently but I held her back.

"How about Mason? Do you want to do it?" I asked.

Mason looked nervous. "I don't know," he said. "I've trained Juno a lot but I'm not sure if I'm ready to battle anyone."

"If anyone knows the right way to battle it's you," I said.

"Okay then," Mason said. "I'm ready to battle."

"I'll referee," Anita volunteered.

Mason sent out Juno and she splashed into the clear pond, sending ripples across the surface. Eevee remained on land. They stared at eachother for a moment before Mason shouted:

"Juno use ice beam!" and Juno began to shoot out a really powerful ray of pure energy. The white energy solidified around Eevee and froze her solid. The woman gasped.

"Eevee is unable to battle," Anita said. "The match goes to Juno!"

Juno barked happily in the water. Mason's face broke into a grin.

"Yes!" he said. "We won Juno, our first victory."

"That was your first battle?" Sun Lee asked. "That was a very powerful ice beam, it doesn't come easily to someone who hasn't battled before."

"My sister's a gym leader," Mason explained. "So I have access to all of her training rooms and equipment. I've had Juno for about a year."

"Well that explains it then," Sun Lee said. "I think all that Seel needs is some real world experience to evolve. It certainly has the required training."

"Evolve," Mason breathed.

Anita and I looked at him, a grin growing on my face. Dewgong was Seel's evolution and it was not only a water type but an ice type Pokemon as well. That meant Juno would be able to use a lot more than just Ice Beam when it came to ice moves. I couldn't believe how well Mason had raised his Seel.

"Well best of luck to you and if you ever get lost take this." Sun Lee said and handed Mason a silver necklace.

As we stared at we saw that is was a compass attached to a silver chain. Mason tilted it in his hand and it pointed us in the right direction, we were back in good condition. I watched as Mason lifted the necklace and handed it to me.

"You take it," he said. "I'm not really much of a necklace guy."

Gratefully I put the long chain over my head and it hung on top of my new jacket making me feel more sophisticated than ever. We marched on through the woods, occasionally stopping to train. Chloe was becoming even more confident outside of her Pokeball her fur almost shined. Bellamy looked happy too, whenever we passed a brook or ran into another creekbed Mason and I took breaks to let our Pokemon swim around.

"Have you ever thought about entering your Pokemon in a contest?" Mason asked one time when we were by the creek.

"Contest?" I said. "No."  
>Mason nodded. "I was just thinking about how healthy your Pokemon look and judges love that. If you can put together a routine with one of your Pokemon before we reach Castelia city then you can enter a contest," Mason said. "My sister used to enter them when she was on her journey. If you ever want to apply to be a gym leader they look at stuff like that."<p>

"Interesting," I said. "I think I might try. Do you think Anita should enter too?"

Mason shrugged. "I guess you can ask her.

Anita and I started to work on our routines even though we had no clue what we were doing. I chose to work with Chloe for the contest and Anita went with Skipper. At this point Skipper looked really tired, he kept whining and I had a feeling it was because Anita hadn't fed him recently. I slipped him some scraps that I could find when Anita was looking the other way and he seemed to perk up.

I was surprised that Mason was the one who knew the most about contests. He told us there were three stages, the beauty stage, the talents stage, and the battle stage. The person with the most points at the end of those rounds would win the contest and there was usually prize money involved. Anita perked up at that. I worked with Chloe on creating a presentation for the talent stage while Anita worked with Skipper on battle technique. She had some very interesting methods. We tried to convince Mason to enter as well but he said he'd rather train Juno for other other things besides show business.

I lost a lot of daylight trying to teach Chloe how to display her flame charge in a way that wouldn't burn people to a crisp on accident. For a while I tried to get her flames to change color but I gave up. The best she could do was turn her electricity from yellow sparks to white sparks but I wanted her to do something more. I knew there was a way to make her presentation look absolutely stunning, or shocking, pun intended.

I spent another night under the stars with Mason because Anita hogged the tent. We'd thought about camping near the river so that Bellamy and Juno could play around but it might attract too many bugs and wild Pokemon could attack us in our sleep. Mason gave me some of his bread now smushed in his backpack. I hoped Anita wasn't completely starving in her tent and I was especially worried about her Pokemon. What would she do when she decided to carry around six Pokemon, a full team, then she might not remember to feed them all. Just one more day and we'd be in Castelia city.

At dawn we set off again and made it to the Pokemon center before noon. I healed my Pokemon and double checked to make sure Anita had done the same then we called Professor Willow. She seemed excited to see we'd picked up another member of our team and reported other groups had done the same.

"I'm happy to see children on a Pokemon journey wherever they come from," she said delightedly.

Reluctantly Anita and I checked on Violet's database entries. A feeling of loathing settled in my stomach as I noticed she had added another addition to her team, a Snivy named Lacy. Then my stomach did a flip, I'd just clicked on her gym badges.

"Violet has four gym badges!" Anita yelled and attracted the attention of more than a few people. "We don't have any," Anita said a little softer.

Mason opened his mouth to protest but I nudged him hard in the ribs. I knew what he had been about to say but I wanted to stall the explosion as long as possible. Anita must not find out about my gym badges if at all possible.

After eating a well deserved meal we found the contest center. It was a huge shiny modern building designed partly like a stadium. There was a tall and very large building which must be the theatre and the outdoor arena where the Pokemon battles took place. When we entered we saw a display of trophies won by the elite team that competed professionally and posters all over the walls. A lady at the front desk greeted us.

"Are you three interested in entering a contest?" she asked.

Anita and I nodded. "When are they?" we asked.

"We have a regular one tomorrow," the lady informed us and handed us a flyer. "Would you like to sign up?"

She handed us a tablet and Anita and I put in our Trainer IDs. Immediately a picture of us appeared on the screen.

"This is an open call contest and you two will be competing against your age group," the lady explained. "Do you two understand how the three stages work?"

I nodded remembering Mason's explanation of them.

"Good," the woman said, "I hope to see you two tomorrow."

We waved goodbye to the lady and headed back into the busiest place in the Unova region, Castelia City.


	11. Diggy the Gym Leader

There was so much to see in Castelia City. It seemed like every street was another shopping mall or apartment complex. There were window shops and sidewalk chalk and guys selling hot dogs and peanuts and cold drinks on the side of the road. We always traveled in a crowd because there was no where else to go and it was hard to fight through the crowd when we wanted to stop and gaze a window display. Everything was beautiful and new, I wanted to live here when I grew up.

The gym in Castelia City was the smallest one yet. It was iron grey and was painted to look like boulders had crashed into the sides. I was confused why it was so small until we went inside and realized why. The building led down into a mineshaft meaning the whole gym was underground and before us stood a small mine elevator ready to take us down below. I think it was pretty obvious what kind of gym this was.

After checking in with the man at the front desk and registering our trainer IDs Anita climbed into the mine elevator first. Mason and I went in second and I slid closed the door. Slowly we began to sink below the surface down into darkness. At first there was no light then lights began to appear on the sides and illuminate the walls. I could see cracked dirt and fossils along the walls as well as poles leading up to the surface. So far this ranked as my least favorite gym.

When the elevator stopped we'd reached a metal platform suspended over the rest of the mineshaft. We had to walk down a flight of metal stairs that made loud noises as it hit our boots and some of the miners stopped to look at us. I saw different Pokemon working in the mine too like Geodude and Roggenrola. It was pretty cool that people got to use there Pokemon at work and maybe get some training in as well.

It didn't take us long to find the actual gym. It was close to where we'd gotten out of the elevator and it was marked by the league symbol above a stone archway. Anita stode in first, looking confident and was immediately greeted by a young man in a grey jumpsuit. The patch on his left chest read Diggy.

"Welcome challengers," said Diggy the gym leader. "I hope y'all like my gym. Let's cut right to the chase. Who wants to battle me first?"

Of course Anita volunteered to go first and Mason and I sat on the bleachers to watch her match. Anita for the first time ever actually made a smart move although probably by accident. She sent out the brussel sprout or Imi as she was actually called which was a grass type. Grass was strong against rock which meant Anita actually had the upper hand.

"Alrighty then youngster," Diggy said. "Go Iggy!"

Diggy sent out a Graveler named Iggy. Apparently just like Anita, he was really bad at naming Pokemon.

Imi was actually winning. I couldn't believe this, and the worst part was, it wasn't even Anita who was getting frustrated with the match, it was Diggy. He started to scream at Iggy and call him names just as I had seem Anita do to all of her Pokemon. I'll admit, Anita had no technique at all. She just kept ordering Imi to use razor blade over and over again and it worked. Iggy was getting tired out. He was too slow to dodge everything. Finally with one last hit, the Graveler keeled over and dropped like well, a stone. My mouth dropped.

"Yes! I won!" Anita screeched. "I won I won I won!"

I stared at her with disbelief. Sure I guess the odds were that eventually Anita would win something but I'd thought it would happen after she was a little kinder to her Pokemon. Then the worst part happened, the brussel sprout began to glow.

"Not again," I said.

"Budews evolve when they are happy," Mason said as we watched the brussel sprout begin to grow. "If it's trainer is happy then it is happy."

The Budew stopped changing and the glowing light cleared revealing a small flower Pokemon. It was a Roselia and actually really pretty. I was a little bummed I couldn't make fun of it anymore.

"Yes!" Anita beamed. "A Roselia! This is the best day ever!"  
>Diggy came over and he was grinning.<p>

"What's your name again?" He asked. "Wow you're the best trainer I've ever battled against. If only there we're more trainers just like you Anita," Diggy said.

Right then and there I really wanted to punch something. Anita didn't deserve to be called the best trainer. If only he knew how horribly she treated her Pokemon.

"Take this," Diggy said and handed her a small brown and black badge. "It's called the Cave Badge," he explained.

Anita beamed and pinned it to her own jacket but on the outside so that everyone could see it. It made me want to blurt out that I already had two.

"Who's next?" Diggy asked and I volunteered.

My choice of Pokemon was obvious. Bellamy sprung from his Pokeball full of life and twirled his tail around. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Anita sitting with Imi and she was no longer in her Pokeball. The match began and Diggy sent out a huge massive Pokemon called an Onix. I almost screamed when I saw how big it was. There was no was this was as fair as beating a Graveler.

Bellamy proved to be a lot stronger than his size. Since he was a water Pokemon that could walk on land he shot loads of water guns straight at the Onix which severely weakened him. The match turned out to be not as much as a challenge as I had first thought. Soon I was shaking hands with Diggy as he handed over another gym badge. I was waiting for the same approval as he gave Anita but he just nodded his head and grimaced like I had just barely passed my algebra test. I wanted to kick over of those rocks.

Next up was Mason but he looked worried. I'd been so caught up in thinking about my own battle I hadn't stopped to think about why. Sure Juno was a water type like Bellamy, but she couldn't fight on land, there was no way.

"Maybe I should back out now," Mason said nervously. "I shouldn't force Juno to battle on land, it could be bad for her."

"I could let you borrow one of my Pokemon," I said.

"You would?" Mason asked, looking relieved. "Who can I borrow?"

"Chloe," I said.

Bellamy would be tired out from battling Onix, it was better I sent out a Pokemon that was full of energy like Chloe.

"No way," Mason shook his head. "Chloe's an electric type which means she'll do next to nothing against a rock type. I think I'm stuck either way."

"What's the hold up?" Diggy called. He was waiting below on the battle arena.

"Anita we need to borrow Skipper," I said frantically.

Anita frowned. "So you've finally realized how tough he is and want to take him from me?"

I shook my head. "No Anita, Mason needs him so he can get his gym badge, he can't battle with Juno because there's no water for her to swim in."

"Fine if you have to put it that way," Anita said and reached for her bag. She handed Mason Skipper's Pokeball and he took it gratefully.

Mason was ready for battle though I was still a little worried. He had never battled with Skipper before not to mention the fact that Skipper was no where near as powerful as Juno. Mason might not be able to adjust.

Diggy sent out a very an unstable looking Roggenrola. He tendered forward and Skipper growled at it, knocking it backwards. This was our lucky day. Then the Roggenrola started to use moves I didn't think we possible, Skipper was starting to loose hope. He bit and scratched at the other Pokemon but it's hard shell was almost impenetrable. Mason was going to loose.

"Skipper dig with your paws and let the dirt hit the other Pokemon," Mason instructed. Not once did he lose his cool.

I watched as miraculously, Skipper began to dig into the dirt and as he did so sharp stones began to fly at the Roggenrola. Taken by surprise the Roggenrola took some serious damage.

"Skipper use bite one more time," Mason said.

It worked, the Roggenrola collapsed and the match went to Mason and Skipper. Anita and I cheered but for different reasons. She immediately went down and retrieved her Pokemon. I couldn't believe our luck. All three of us had won a badge today on our first try. It was a miracle.

Mason treated us for lunch to thank Anita for letting him borrow Skipper. We went to a pizzeria since there was one on just about every street corner and ordered three Castelia style slices of cheese as well as pizza flavored Pokemon food since Pokemon were invited to dine at this restaurant as well as people. That's when my day really took a wrong turn.

"Don't look now but there's someone in the booth next to us," I muttered to Anita.

Of course Anita looked. There was Violet, sitting across the table with a man in a very expensive suit, her father probably. I ducked as I saw Anita tap her shoulder.

"You!" I heard Violet saw as she whipped her head around.

I couldn't believe Violet was here at this very pizzeria at same time we were. This was insane.

"What are you doing here?" Anita asked. "I thought you already had four gym badges."

"I do," Violet sniffed. "But I came back for another."

"You lost to Diggy the first time you were here didn't you," Anita scoffed.

Slowly I sat up. Violet losing to someone was almost unheard of.

"That is none of your buisness," Violet said and spun around, letting her black hair hit Anita in the face.

"Let me see your Pokemon," Anita begged and reached over the booth to grab one of Violet's Pokeballs.

"Don't touch them," Violet said, slapping Anita's hand away. I didn't blame her, I probably would have done the same. "But if you insist." she said pridefully.

I watched as Violet let out all four of her Pokemon including one very large one, a Liapard, the evolved form of her starter Pokemon Purrloin. There stood three very rare Pokemon, a Totodile, a Torchic and a Snivy as well as a massive purple tiger Pokemon. Violet hadn't been bluffing after all and it made my gut filled with loathing and jealousy.

"I'm guessing you don't have any rare Pokemon with you," Violet said as she stroked her Liapard Andromeda's head.

Anita was silent for a moment then retorted.

"All of my Pokemon have evolved."

Violet sneered. "I don't care about evolution," she said. "I am a Pokemon collector which means I'm going to collect the best and rarest Pokemon only to preserve and train. I only accept the best Pokemon on my team not some run of the mill kind you find in the woods. Let me guess, you've got a bird Pokemon, a bug Pokemon and a normal type Pokemon.

"Wrong," Anita said.

"Actually she's right," I said quietly.

"No she's not Penny," Anita snapped. "Imi is a grass type not a bug type."  
>Violet snickered. "I thought so."<p>

"Sweetheart be nice," said Violet's father patiently.

"How about a Pokemon battle?" Violet challenged.

"You're on," Anita replied.

Oh brother, I thought. Anita was going down.


	12. The Pokemon Contest

Chapter Twelve:

The battle took place in the nearby park. We were suppose to wait our turn to use one of the battle arenas but Anita and Violet pushed aside a few kindergarteners playing patty cake in the middle. Mason and I refereed. The battle began with Anita sending out Imi and Violet sending out her Torchic named Delia. This was a smart move on Violet's part because Torchic was a fire type and would be extremely effective against Anita's grass type Imi. I watched behind my fingers as Imi, still not accustomed to her newly evolved form dodged extremely powerful fireballs and fell over a lot. Let's just say it didn't take Violet long to come out victorious.

The match was three on three so the trainers sent out their second Pokemon. Anita chose Skipper and Violet chose Totodile. Although the two Pokemon didn't have much of a type advantage Anita's Skipper was more experienced than Violet's Totodile and came close to wiping it out in a few rounds but Violet's Totodile fought back hard and had a water gun almost as good as Bellamy's which I had been perfecting. Skipper, although much bigger than the little blue crocodile was looking tired and was completely wet so one more blast of water sent him skidding out of the arena totally defeated.

"The match goes to Violet," Mason said.

Violet smirked and Anita's face went red.

"I didn't even get to use my most powerful Pokemon," Violet puffed. She looked really embarrassed and sounded a little pathetic.

"Funny how that works," Violet said. "Neither did I. Admit it, I beat you without even going into a third round, you're nothing compared to me. I see you only have one gym badge. It's obvious you need way more work."

"Give me a rematch," Anita demanded but Violet just turned away.

"I'll battle you again someday, but I've got to go win my fifth badge, see you," Violet waved.

"Wait," I said and Violet turned. "Just answer one thing. Why did you leave your friends behind?"

Violet laughed. "Because they were weak duh. Obviously what I want to achieve is a solo job. There is only one champion Penny. What are you going to do when you get to the league and are up against your two friends?"

The words Violet left me with stung because she was right. True, I might find it the slightest bit amusing to beat Anita at the league but Mason I didn't think I could beat anyway let alone knock him out of the competition. Friends just didn't do that to each other.

"Come on," Mason said. I think he could tell Violet's words were effecting me. "Let's do something else."

"Like what," I said glumly.

"Like that," Anita said, she was pointing at a huge window display across the street with a loads of lacy dresses visible from across the road.

"Well you will need to dress up for the competition tomorrow," Mason said.

And so Anita and I spent the rest of the day picking out what we would wear to the competition the next day. Anita tried on over a dozen fancy ball gowns that were way over our budget but I stuck to the first one I tried on. It was a simple pale blue dress that I thought made my platinum colored hair stand out. I realized with hair just about the color of Chloe's electricity we were a perfect match.

We made sure to check into the Pokemon Center early as to avoid the battle for the last ten spots. Even getting there before five didn't guarantee us a room for the night but we got lucky and got one before the late night crowd arrived.

As dusk fell Mason, Anita, Chloe and I sat on the outside deck of the Pokemon center eating dinner at one of the outside tables. We'd bought extra Pokemon food to feed all the Pokemon since they would be tired after a long day. After dinner we retired to our room where Anita and I took the window bed and Mason slept on the one next to the loud refrigerator. The Castelia city Pokemon Center room was a lot smaller than the one in Accumula Town because they had to cram in so many more rooms. As I fell asleep that night I rolled over and stared out the partly shaded window out over the bright city lights of Castelia. Today a gym badge, tomorrow a trophy.

The sun rose and our alarm clock went off. Mason went down for breakfast as Anita and I got ready for the competition. I put on the dress and braided my hair while Anita put on the purple and rather more expensive dress and did her make up. Chloe seemed a little nervous as I brushed and brushed and brushed her hair until it shone even brighter than usual. She looked beautiful.

Anita and I went down for breakfast but didn't have much time. I grabbed a bagel for me and a tin of Pokemon food for Chloe to eat on the way to the competition. Then, we hopped on a bus and waited for it to take us to the beautiful building we had been to yesterday.

"Woah that's a lot of people," Anita breathed.

As we approached the building we saw everywhere kids our age coaching their Pokemon, brushing them and grooming their hair. They were all here for the same reasons we were. This would be some serious competition.

Since we'd already registered we could skip that line and go straight backstage to the dressing rooms. Those were also crowded with people. Anita and I said goodbye to Mason who would be watching from the audience and we pinned out numbers to our stomachs. I felt a little queasy as the next group of people were shuttled to the wings of the stage. That meant we would be going on soon.

"And now ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the stage act 106 Anita and her Staravia Flaps."

Anita beamed as the announcer called her name and she walked onstage. As soon as the stage lights hit her though, she froze and looked a little timid. Flaps was wearing a little red bowtie around his neck. It was pretty cute. Next he had to perform his routine. I hadn't seen Anita's routine with Flaps so I wasn't quite sure what she was going to do.

"Knock knock," Anita said and immediately I was confused. Why was she telling a knock knock joke? "Who's there?" Anita said in a different voice and out of the corner of her mouth. Oh no, I thought, Anita wasn't seriously attempting ventriloquism. There was no way the judges would believe that it was actually Flaps replying back. I watched Flaps just sitting there as Anita continued her joke all well pretending Flaps was saying things back to her. This was a disaster. Then Flaps started to caw very loudly.

"Interrupting Miltank Mooo," Anita said, but no one could hear her over Flap's call. The audience was dead silent.

"Thank you Anita and Flaps," the announcer said.

That was Anita's cue to get off stage but she didn't move.

"Get it Flaps?" Anita said. "Sure do Anita!" Anita said out of the corner of her mouth. Someone yelled at her to get off the stage.

"Be quiet!" Anita yelled at the audience member. "I'll get off when the judges decide to give me first place.

"Stop it Anita," I hissed.

"Miss please get off the stage," said an official but Anita remained firm.

"Just as second," she whined and started to tell another horrible knock knock joke. This was a total disaster.

Finally, someone had to come on stage and pick her up by the ankles and toss of over their shoulders all while Anita kicked and protested. Flaps hardly looked phased. With that, the announcer cleared his throat.

"Well then, let's get on with the show," he said. "Please give a warm welcome to act 107 Miss Penelope with her Blitzle named Chloe."

I walked on stage with my Pokemon behind me. She was wearing a blue bonnet with a ribbon that matched my dress and looked absolutely stunning. Then it was time for my routine. Just to be safe, I removed Chloe's bonnet before she attempted anything. I clicked my fingers three times to signal for Chloe to begin.

Chloe reared on her hind legs and shot sparks from her body. That got some oohs from the audience. Then she conjured up a flame wheel and let it dance around her painlessly. Chloe let let the circle of flames widen and aimed it at me. A couple people in the audience gasped but I had planned for this. I easily jumped through the hoop and got a big applause, the audience seemed to like it. Then it was time for the finale. Chloe begin to circle around me and crackle with electricity. This was the part I'd invented and had been planning for for so long. The electricity flew from her body and as she spun faster and faster around me the electricity rose up around me and turned into glitter that fell into my hair and to the ground. I held out my hand to scoop up some of the falling glitter and blew it toward the audience. Chloe slowed down and everyone erupted into cheers. We'd done it. Hard work really did pay off.

After the show I found Anita and was dismayed to find she hadn't even seen my performance. I'd hoped she'd at least have the courtesy to see her friends perform but I guess not and the strangest thing was she still expected that she would get first place. We attended the awards ceremony where everyone gathered on the stage and a podium was raised in the back. Anita and I waved to Mason in the audience as the judges started their speech.

"We're about to announce the ten best acts," said the judge. "Congrats to everyone that makes it into the top ten."

I stroked Chloe's mane as I wanted for the judge to read off the results. The audience was just staring at us and I could no longer see Mason in the crowd. I hoped he was watching. The announcer started with tenth and worked his way up until if I'd made it into the top ten I would be fifth place or higher.

"And our second runner up is Miss Penelope and her Blitzle Chloe," said the man.

I threw my arms around Chloe and screamed. We'd gotten third place in our very first beauty contest. This was amazing. I walked up to to where the other winners were lining up and was the first one to mount the podium. Someone put a bronze medal around my neck and one around Chloe's as well. Around me people were clapping and I looked down to see Anita smiling smugly. She thought she had placed better than me.

"Our first runner up is..." said the judge and another kid joined me on the podium with his Mankey. "And finally ladies and gentlemen, your winner of the talent and beauty stage is Miss Aurora."

"Yes!" Anita cried and she threw her arms in the air.

I stared at her as she took a moment to register the fact in her mind that she hadn't exactly won. She hadn't even placed.

"What's wrong with you people?" Anita said.

The attention went from the girl who was now mounting the podium next to me to Anita who was standing up. Anita put Flaps back in his Pokeball and stormed off stage. Several people giggled but most everyone was quiet. There goes Anita, humiliating herself again, not to mention ruining my moment in the spotlight of course. I was done chasing after Anita. She would have to fend for herself in the next round.

Mason congratulated me when we met up between rounds. He seemed really happy I'd won and also a little fed up with Anita. I could tell the irritation with her had started in him a long time ago but I also knew he was controlling it for my sake.

"Is Chloe ready for the battle round?" he asked.

"We'll see," I smiled and Chloe whinnied. We were going to take it all.


	13. Winner Takes All

Chapter Thirteen

The battle round began after lunch but I hadn't seen Anita since her freak out on stage. The battle arena was outside so there was more room for a crowd. Most of it though was just the other age categories coming to see us before they went on. I had to wait a while for my turn but finally the announcer called me onto the ground.

The arena was like a pit so that the audience rose above the ground and the opponents entered from opposite ends. I was glad unlike most gym matches that the ground was even and made up red soil so I wouldn't have to worry about dodging the rocks in the ground or staying on the mats in a pool. I walked into the pit and stood in the little white painted box that faced the battlefield. Across the arena I could see my opponent, a boy about my age maybe younger with curly brown hair. Our faces appeared on the jumbotron as well as our Pokemon's. Apparently the boy's name was Randy and he had a Psyduck.

We sent out our Pokemon and the battle began. Chloe was an electric type so she had an advantage. I tried to use things like Thundershock but the Psyduck was quicker then it looked. I thought the match would soon be over but the Psyduck started to use his psychic moves which were much more effective than I'd hoped. Chloe started to walk in the wrong direction and aim her attacks right into the ground. Things were not looking good.

"Come on Chloe," I yelled. "Snap out of it!"  
>Chloe looked really confused but she stamped her foot and seemed to shake off the psychic attack. Next she used quick attack and we finally got a good hit in with the psyduck. It still wasn't enough though to stop it though because the Psyduck kept going. It's eyes began to glow and it started to use a really big psychic attack.<p>

"Chloe use Spark!" I said.

Just in time Chloe sent out a ball of energy that collided with the Psyduck's attack and made a small explosion. Chloe had just enough time to use one more quick attack to sent the Psyduck spinning out of the ring ending the match.

Delighted I ran to hug Chloe but something happened. The audience gasped and people started to pull out their cameras to take pictures. Chloe's body had become so bright I could hardly see her. She was getting bigger and taller, Chloe was evolving. I couldn't believe it, finally my Pokemon was experienced enough to evolve. This was amazing. I was so proud of her. As the light faded I rushed over to my newly evolved Pokemon. Chloe was taller than me now, as big as a Rapidash. This meant I could even ride her if I wanted to. She sparkled with electricity and nuzzled me as the whole audience oohed and ahhed. I'd never seen a Pokemon so powerful looking.

"The match goes to Penelope and her Zebstrika," said the announcer. He even seemed surprised and had to correct himself before he said Blitzle.

I shook hands with the boy named Randy and went back inside to wait for round two. Mason was waiting for me there looking amazed.

"Chloe evolved!" he said and gave me a high five. "Congrats, you'll win for sure now."

I smiled and watched as the scoreboard lined everyone up for the next round. Anita was no where to be seen but I didn't see her picture on the scoreboard. That meant she hadn't made it to round two. Hopefully she didn't stir any trouble out of that.

Round two began and everyone had heard about Chloe evolving. I was a little nervous to go up against someone with Chloe who I hadn't even had a chance to train yet but I didn't have any choice. The computer matched me up with a girl named Luisa and her Patrat. I sent out Chloe and the battle began.

The Patrat proved to be weaker than I'd expected from a Pokemon that made it to round two. There was only one problem though and it was that Chloe hadn't yet adjusted to her new shape and she was too slow. The Patrat was fast and could shoot around the arena without being hit. It especially got on my nerve when the Patrat used agility and it was impossible for Chloe to even come close. I knew if she could just get one good hit in we could be done with this round.

It was amazing controlling a Zebstrika because she was just so much bigger and more powerful. I tried a Spark and the electricity generated was almost twice as much as when she was a Blitzle. It was incredible.

Chloe battle with the Patrat until they were both very worn out but Chloe emerged victorious, that meant we were onto the semi finals, the top four in the competition. According to Mason, this was a big deal.

The semi finals were pretty intense and I knew everyone who was out of the competition would be watching in the audience. We'd lost a lot of members when the next age category had been called to compete in the beauty and talent stage so it was mostly other kids watching us. I was up first and against a girl named Lilac. I remembered her from the other stages, she'd gotten fourth place then, only one rank below me.

Chloe appeared from her Pokeball looking charged and ready to go. Then I saw Lilac's Pokemon, a Graveler. She was a rock type trainer which meant Chloe's electric type moves would do next to nothing. This was bad news. The only move that might have done damage was quick attack, but with Chloe's new form she wasn't ready to use that yet and I would have to reteach it to her. We tried to use Spark but it did nothing. The Graveler even laughed, if it's possible for a rock to laugh. Then it attacked and Chloe fell hard. I could tell she was getting hurt and there was nothing I could do.

"Use Quick Attack!" I told her.

Chloe obeyed but it didn't do much because just then the Graveler used harden and Chloe bounced right off. Then the worst part happened, the ground began to rumble and split apart. Graveler was using earthquake. Chloe fell and hurt her leg causing me to cringe. I didn't know how to save her. Chloe tried to get up but she wasn't use to her evolved form and didn't make it in time. The Graveler jumped up and tackled the defenseless Chloe ending the match.

"Return," I said and called Chloe back to her Pokeball.

My face turned red from embarrassment in front of the crowd and grief for Chloe. I had to get to a Pokemon Center so they could look at her leg. Luckily there was a nurse on hand who looked after all the defeated Pokemon. While the last battle of round three took place, I waited for the nurse to return with my Pokemon.

The nurse came back with Chloe's Pokeball and handed it to me saying Chloe was completely fine and restored. I was so happy I thanked her and ran back outside just in time to see the last bit of the championship battle. If Lilac won that would put me in third place but if she lost then I would be in fourth. There was a huge explosion as the other girl's Pokemon used Hyper Beam and the match was over. Oh well, fourth wasn't so bad anyway, I told myself. At least we tried.

All the competitors gathered in the pit for the awards. Instead of lining up like for the other stages our faces appeared on the jumbotron ranked ten to first. Then it was time for the overall winners. A gold podium rose from the ground and the judges started to call off the top ten again. I was starting to get nervous when they didn't call my name for a while. I didn't think I would be this high up, then;

"You're runner up is Miss Penelope and Chloe," said the announcer and the audience cheered. I rose, grinning and made my way up to the podium across from Lilac who had placed third. The prize for winning first second or third was a tiara or a crown for boys and mine was silver. A woman put it in my hair and tied a red official competition ribbon to Chloe who barely fit on the podium with me. Second was better than I could ever hope for and hey, maybe next time I'll be first.


	14. The End of an Era

Chapter Fourteen

Mason and I met up after the competition to look for Anita. When we didn't see her after an hour of searching we decided she must have gone back to the Pokemon Center. I refused to take off my crown or put Chloe back into her Pokeball until the last second when we reached the doors of the Pokemon Center. There was still a chance that Anita hadn't seen me win anything.

Mason and I didn't see Anita in the lobby where people where healing their Pokemon so we went right up to our room on one of the top floors and found Anita on her bed facing away from the door.

"You're back," she said cynically.

"Hi Anita," I said, "Are you okay?"

Anita wasn't dressed in her purple gown anymore just normal clothes and none of her Pokemon were out. I saw Flaps's bowtie in the corner and it looked like it had been stepped on several times.

"You had an unfair advantage," Anita snapped. "Flaps and I were better than you because you cheated."

"Cheated?" I gawked. "Please explain to me how I cheated."

"I'm not saying it's your fault," said Anita, still without looking at me. "But it isn't my fault either."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You're blonde," said Anita. She turned around to look at me. "They always pick blonde trainers. That's the only reason you won."

"Blonde?" I demanded. I looked to Mason, he looked just as surprised and disgusted. "Anita, what are you talking about?"

"By the way," Anita said. "If you were a real friend you would give me your tiara because I was probably the next runner up for second place. If I was blonde I would have won."

"Have you lost your mind," I said. "The runner up for second place is third place. Do you even know how to count?"

"And the blonde thinks I'm the dumb one," Anita said throwing her hands up in the air. "Give me the crown Penny."

Suddenly Anita lunged at my backpack and pulled out the silver tiara I'd just won. That was it, there was no way she was going to take another thing from me.

"Give it back!" I screamed and grabbed for it.

Anita had one end of the crown and I had the other. I was so angry, I tugged and tugged at it hoping she would loosen her grip if I pulled harder but she didn't. We both suddenly broke away with two different pieces of the tiara. Anita had just broken my more precious artifact.

I stared at her, then at the piece of silver and glitter in my hand. First came sadness as hot tears appeared in my eyes, then rage. I was so angry at her I wanted Chloe to use Spark and blast Anita out of the tenth story window.

"Look what you've done," I screamed.

I know I shouldn't have been that upset but right then the broken tiara was the most important thing to me. All I wanted was revenge for what Anita had done.

Anita considered the piece in her hand and then tossed it aside. I dove for it and fit the two back together. They didn't stick like they were suppose to and sent me instead into more despair. Suddenly I didn't know why I'd been traveling with Anita for so long. She was a truly awful friend and completely heartless.

"That's it," I screamed and Anita flinched. Good, I wanted her to pay attention. "I deserved that crown Anita weather you admit it or not. If you want proof I'm better than you look no farther than our gym badges. I have three."

Anita blinked and I could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to believe me.

"You never cared to ask me if I'd gotten a gym badge or not," I said. "I've gotten one from every gym we've gone to."

"Prove it," said Anita.

I unzipped my jacket I had over my dress and showed her the three glittering badges. The shock that registered in Anita's eyes were more than satisfying.

"Give them to me," Anita demanded as a spark appeared in her eyes.

"No Anita," I said. "We're done traveling together. You're on you're own."

"You're not allowed to do that," said Anita. "Professor Willow said we have to stick with our original partners."  
>I looked at Mason who met my eye. "This isn't Professor Willow's class anymore Anita," I said. "This is real life. I am going to be the very best Pokemon Trainer in Unova, someday the world," I took a shaky breath. "I can make my own choices."<p>

"Have fun traveling alone," smiled Anita. "Come on Mason we're leaving."

"I'm going with Penny," Mason said.

My faithful Mason. Have I told you how great he is? Anita's face went red as a Darumaka as she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room. Finally Anita was gone for good and I was happy about it. It wasn't until she was officially gone that I realized how much I'd hated having her around. Now I could collect my gym badges without worrying about her getting kicked out of every gym except for the one her in Castelia but seriously Diggy was an idiot.

Once I'd gotten over what I'd just done I went back to worrying about my crown. It was broken beyond super glue so I'd have to find someone to fix it later. I put it in my bag and turned to Mason.  
>"Thanks," I said.<p>

"No problem," Mason replied. "I'd been kind of wanting to get rid of her too."

. We decided since it was getting kind of late in the day we'd spend another night in the Pokemon Center and start on our way to Nimbasa City. It would also put some space between us and Anita. When she left she'd forgotten to take her tent which was fortunate for us but I couldn't help but feel a little worried for her. Hopefully she'd realized her mistake before leaving town and bought a new one.

Nimbasa City wouldn't take long to get to. There was actually a bus that ran from Castelia City to Nimbasa City ever since the dessert had been turned into an industrial highway and desert resort. I wished Mason and I had time to stop there and money but we'd just created another rival and would have to keep moving. Nimbasa City gym according to Mason had recently been renovated into a grass type gym and in order to beat it I'd need a fire type. I knew he was right. Chloe and Bellamy wouldn't do anything against a grass type my only hope was to find a pokemon that could beat a grass type.

We spent the night in the Pokemon Center and set off at Dawn. Now that Anita was gone I had to carry more weight but that didn't bother me as much because I wouldn't have to carry it far. The bus that would take us to Nimbasa City left early in the morning so we had to set an alarm to make it on time. Mason and I bought our tickets and boarded the bus. The bus was over crowded and so there weren't any seats left that were next to eachother. I guessed Nimbasa was a popular destination. Mason and I were seperated and I sat next to a girl my age sitting by herself.

The girl had dark skin, frizzy black hair in a braid and was wearing a dirty and faded blue work jumpsuit. She was looking out the window nervously and kept checking the seats behind her. The girl practically jumped out of her skin when she saw me.

"Are you going to Nimbasa City too?" I asked.

It was sort of a dumb question but I didn't know for sure if this was a one way stop.

"I guess," said the girl. She seemed to have calmed down a bit but she kept wiping her palms on her jumpsuit. "Anywhere's better than here," she said.

"What's wrong with Castelia city," I asked. "I love it here."

"It's an okay city I guess," said the girl. "Just promise not to tell anyone." I leaned in closer as she whispered. "I'm running away."

"Why?" I asked and the girl shushed me.

"I want to be a Pokemon Master," she explained quietly. "And my parents want me to work in the mines to bring in a little extra money. I don't want to ever work there."

"Well it looks like you do," I said, referring to her attire.

"I slept in the mines last night," the girl said and rubbed her neck. "I had to. It was the only way I could escape. I went to work yesterday and hid there until this morning when I knew the bus would be here. If I went home my parents would hear me sneaking out."

"You already work in the asked?" I asked a little shocked that an eleven or twelve year old already had to work.

"Yeah," the girl said and then looked a little ashamed. "My family isn't rich so need everyone working as soon as possible. Getting my Pokemon license also qualified me for work at a gym. Since the underground mines are all technically part of Diggy's gym I had to work there." Then she paused. "Why am I telling you all this?" she suddenly said.

"Because you're nervous?" I suggested. "Anyways, are you sure you want to do this? It's not to late."

"No," said the girl. "I am going to be a Pokemon master. That will show my parents. Everyday they tell me to give up on my dream and just go back to digging. They don't even know I've already caught a Pokemon. I got it yesterday when I was mining. She pulled out a Pokeball and it grew in her hands. This guy will get me to the Pokemon Championships," she said. "And that's exactly where I'm going after I get all eight gym badges... and I will get all eight gym badges."

"Why don't you come with me?" I asked suddenly. "Me and my friend Mason are doing the same thing. You can collect gym badges with us."

The girl looked at us skeptically. "You want me to come with you?"

I hadn't really thought it through. The words had just come spilling out of my mouth but I decided I really did want someone else along. Then I realized I didn't even know the girls name.

"I'm Penny," but the way I said. "I'd let you meet my partner Chloe but there's not enough room on this bus."

The girl raised her eyebrows in amazement. Just then the bus took a sharp turn.

"I'm Cosette," she said and held out a grimy hand. "I'd let you meet my new Pokemon except for I'm a little afraid he'll go bizerk."

"So you'll come with us?" I asked.

"Yeah," Cosette said, "I think I will."


	15. Roselyn and the New Girl

Chapter Fifteen

Cosette was pretty cool and seemed just like me. When she grew up she wanted to be a fighting type gym leader after she became the champion of the Pokemon Leauge just like I wanted to be an electric type. I really did understand why she was running away. From what Cosette said her parents didn't seem to care about her dream at all and just wanted a little extra money. She explained how when she was in the mine yesterday she's heard a Pokemon sneaking up and before it could attack her, she caught it. Her parents would kill her if they found out she had a Pokemon so she knew she had to make her escape that night.

The bus made a few stops at important shopping malls along the way and of course the dessert resort. More people got off the bus at this stop and Mason moved over to the seat in front of us so he could meet Cosette. I could tell he was a little skeptical at first because she was running away but I think he understood as I did. Nobody could stop someone from pursuing their dream of becoming a Pokemon master. It was just too strong of a pull.

We reached Nimbasa City and the bus stopped. Cosette helped us carry our stuff since she had only brought a backpack and we sat down on the bench. Nimbasa city was a lot cleaner than Castelia City and from the map on the side of the bus stop, it was a lot smaller too. The first thing I did was locate the Nimbasa gym on the map. It walking distance from here, about three blocks. I asked if Cosette wanted a little time to train her new Pokemon but she shook her head to my disappointment, I really wanted to know what it was.

We found the gym standing alone in like usual and it had eight walls just like the Pokemon insignia for eight badges.. There was a garden bed that separated into a stone path and trellises pushed up against the walls and ivy woven within them. When we went inside the air smelled sweet and there were loads of little girls running around in green dresses. An older one, a teenager maybe was at the front desk and helped us register.

"Why are there so many girls dressed alike here?" Cosette asked.

"Their Roslyn's little helpers," the girl smiled. "They're not old enough to have a Pokemon licence yet but they're here for her Pokemon Summer camp. I'm one of the counselors."

I had completely lost track of time since I'd left Peridot Town. Quickly I added up the days in my head and calculated I'd been on my journey for fifteen days, over two weeks. That meant it was June eighteenth, my mom's birthday. I'd completely forgotten and now I felt bad.

The gym opened up into a big green house. Everywhere there were plants and grass Pokemon and all the walls were made of glass as to let in as much sunlight as possible. All the little girls running around looked so happy, I was a little envious there was no Pokemon Camp back in Peridot Town. I would have had the best time.

The teenager let us to the center of the greenhouse where a young gardener was giving a lecture about Vileplume to a bunch of eager seven year olds. The seven year old started talking and the young woman turned around and saw us.

"Are these challengers Rosetta?" asked the woman.

The teenager, Rosetta nodded.

"Excuse me girls," said the young woman. "We're going to have an early lunch."

"Are you going to have a gym battle Miss Roslyn?" asked one of the little girls. "Can we watch? Please please can we watch?"

Some of the other girls chimed in until finally Roslyn said yes. There was a cheer and Roslyn led us over to the battlefield at the back of the gym. Cosette and Mason let me go first though I was a little nervous because it was my first time going first and the little girls sitting with Mason and Cosette didn't seem to like me. Probably because I was challenging their teacher.

I hadn't given anymore thought to my problem with type advantages. Both electricity and water were weak to grass but that hadn't really phased me since Chloe evolved. She looked so powerful I didn't see how she could lose to anyone besides a Graveler.

Roslyn set the rules, it was a two on two match and she sent out an evolved brussel sprout, sorry a Roselia. I sent out Chloe of course and the battle began.

The only move Chloe could use that might actually do damage was flame wheel but ever since the competition, her flame wheel hadn't been doing exactly what she wanted. We seemed in good shape though because flame wheel was working like it should. Well working until the Roselia started attacking and Chloe got in real trouble. Since Chloe was an electric type the razor blades did a whole lot more damage than they would to a fire type. She fell on her side and the electricity that crackled around her died.

"Get up Chloe!" I yelled desperately and she responded.

Chloe got back on her feet and used flame wheel except this time the wheel went spinning out from her center and ranged up to fifteen feet nearly catching the stands on fire. It caught the Roselia though and Roslyn had to send it back to it's Pokeball defeated. Next Roslyn sent out a huge monkey Pokemon and my Pokedex identified it as a Simisage, an evolved Pokemon. It was pretty big and immediately started attacking Chloe before we could do anything to stop it.

Chloe was already weak from her last battle but still tried to summon another flame wheel. Then Simisage stopped moving and took us by surprise. I realized what was happening to late.

"Bella use Solar Beam!" yelled the gym leader.

The room went pitch black for one second and then a blinding light appeared knocking me backward five feet and causing some of the girls to scream. A column of smoke went up and when it cleared Chloe was completely defeated. I'd never seen her this badly hurt.

Chloe was my last hope and I knew Bellamy wouldn't be any help against a grass type. I had to try anyway. Bellamy appeared ready to battle but his water attacks did next to nothing besides getting Roslyn's Simisage wet. We were toast.

I took a seat in the stands feeling embarrassed and like a total failure. Cosette tried to cheer me up before Mason went on but it didn't work. That was my first battle in front of her and now she must think I'm a total loser too.

Roslyn was surprisingly accommodating but I had a feeling it was because she knew Mason had a water type. The ground below Mason's half of the field opened up and revealed a pool of water below it so that Juno would be able to battle. She said it was a requirement for all gyms and that made me wonder why Diggy didn't have one.

I could tell Roslyn was a little taken back when Mason sent out a Seel. She must have known she was also an ice type and grass is extremely weak to ice. The battle didn't last long. Mason defeated Roslyn relying solely on ice beam. It was a pretty impressive match to watch and Roslyn's Pokemon had to be defrosted by the end of it. I saw her give Mason a shiny rose shaped gym badge and a twinge of jealously sparked in me. A part of me had wanted him to lose so I wouldn't be alone.

Next was Cosette but she didn't seem to sure of herself. She asked me to come down to the floor with her so I could help. I complied but I wasn't sure if Cosette would be able to get through this battle. When Roslyn sent out a Cottonee and waited for Cosette to send out her Pokemon, she didn't do anything, just stood there looking anxious.

"Send out your Pokemon," I whispered.

"I can't," Cosette said. She wouldn't meet my eye.

"Why not," I asked. "You to have one right?"

Cosette suddenly looked ashamed and held out her Pokeball for me to see.

"I'm a little scared of him," she explained. "I don't even know what Pokemon I caught." she whispered.

"I thought you said you were attacked," I said.

Cosette shook her head. "I heard movement behind me and threw a Pokeball. It could be anything, anything and now I'm it's trainer."

I couldn't believe Cosette didn't even know what Pokemon she had caught. How could she be scared of a Pokemon. I tried to put myself in her shoes, alone in a dark cave and then suddenly hearing a noise. Now what I thought about it I probably would have done the same. It could be a Galvantula or a Zubat, anything big and scary that dwells in a cave. I ran through the possibilities in my mind. The only Pokemon that lived in mines were rock, ground or fighting types and those were some of the scariest.

"I'm going to come back and rechallenge the gym anyway," I said. "How about training your Pokemon a little and you can challenge her again with me?"

Cosette nodded. "I'll do that," she said.

I could tell she was breathing hard and shaking like she was really nervous. It must be hard to be afraid of your own Pokemon.

Roslyn was happy to let us come back and challenger her later but she suggest we do it after five when the campers were gone. There might be less pressure on us that way.


End file.
